You sound more like a dumb blonde than a lady :) >from the moment Michelle Obama began to speak, I realized we were >witnessing something historic -- and unrelated to the fact she is an >African American. Michelle Obama is the first woman to embrace/embody >a post-feminist view of a presidential spouse. > >Think of it this way: When was the last time a nominee's wife stepped >forward to assert her children and her marriage were more important >and satisfying to her than her career? Indeed, to speak of the >necessity of putting her career aside for her husband's political >ambition--and to do so without a whiff of resentment? Heck, when was >the last time you saw a candidate's wife- -any politician's wife! -- >proclaim her love for her husband without that husband having been >caught cheating on her first? And to do all this without driving the >media into a hissy fit: "OMG she's setting women's rights back a >generation!" > >For neither is Michelle Obama some retro caricature of a "desperate >housewife." How could she be, with her pumped figure, her confident, >outspoken manner, and the way she sometimes looks, when goaded, like >she's chewing on marbles? This is not a woman to be messed with. This >is not a woman who feels inferior to her husband. This is not a woman >without ambition or dreams. But she seems to possess the modern >understanding that women's ambitions and dreams aren't always realized >on a straight trajectory; that marriage and family are as much a part >of those ambitions and dreams as a promotion or job title; and that >when a husband succeeds politically, it does not negate her importance >but amplifies it. > >It was refreshing, too, to see a woman on the convention's stage >wearing a soft, sexy dress. This is more post-feminism. Call it the >"Sex and the City" effect. I've been struck by how many young career >women today eschew the boxy suits and sensible heels of their female >bosses for fitted dresses, high heels, and low necklines. There seems >to be no contradiction in their minds that they can be effective at >what they do in their public lives, but still be feminine and >unabashedly open about attracting male attention. > >Thus one of the most striking aspects of Michelle Obama is seemingly >the most superficial: the sundresses she's worn throughout the >campaign. I was simply transfixed by the sight of her in that girlish, >black-and-white number she wore on "The View" -- girlish except for >the powerful, trim triceps poking through the armholes. It was like >looking at a lioness wearing something Paris Hilton would put on her >chihuahua. > >We hear often of women shattering glass ceilings, but Michelle Obama >has shattered a plaster mold: the mold that casts all female public >figures -- and potential First Ladies -- into either/or figures. You >are EITHER an independent career woman in your own right (Hillary >Clinton) OR a traditionally minded woman in the background of an >ambitious man, the shadow in pearls (Cindy McCain; Laura Bush). You >are NOT this hot, buff mother at a lectern moving a crowd to tears >with your force and passion. > >I'm not trying to idealize Michelle Obama. The speech was carefully >crafted. It of course had a political agenda. And as with any >political family, we have no idea what goes on in the Obama household >or private life. We have no idea what she's really thinking when she >closes her eyes at night. > >Still, it's the public image that interests me. And Michelle Obama has >just upgraded that image into one we GenExers can identify with and >admire.
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