"Why are we here talking about Michelle Obama's behind?"

A better question might be- "Why jump into a thread that's too low-brow for you to dignify with your interest?" Well, other than to jump in and decry it. Be that as it may, I myself am here with my most bitter protestation against the sort of slippery slope frank and open talk about Mrs.Obama's ass puts us on.

I must give my written grievance to such pandering to prurient interest as a very necessary exercise of social protest. I recognize that I won't stem the horde of hoi polloi storming the gate to talk about Michelle Obama's fine behind, but By Odin I'll speak out against a favorite publisher further loosening the Sword of Ragnarök from its sheath..

It should be clear from the page views these sort of articles get here in Gawker Media that many folk jump in to at least check out what's being said about the Booty In Question. And I think that ultimately, Gawker Media has reneged on its responsibility to protect its simpler folk from themselves.

I feel a bit sullied by my very presence here, and as penance will over-comment on the next Lamenting DFW that comes down the Gawker Media pike.

But before I go let me say-

DAMN, look at the lateral protrusion on that thing! Surely the greeks had this in mind with their 'kallipýg(os)'?

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Also, I'm tired of people acting like "curvy" women's bodies aren't celebrated. Marilyn Monroe, Scarlett Johanssen, Anna Nicole Smith in their heydays...these women aren't thin fashion models. I'll be overjoyed when they start showing positive images of bodies that don't have a large waist-to-hip ratio or big bust or aren't boyish. I feel like you have to be "curvy" or "boyish" and god forbid you be anything in between or beyond.

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I'm an adult black woman and I don't think I've ever seen a normal black person's naked ass in an ad or on TV or in the movies -- I don't watch porn. I have a feeling the actors aren't exactly representative.

[en.wikipedia.org]

So while I'm willing to move on, this was much ado about something.

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It's not the same thing. While we may be able to relate on the subject of gluteal girth, our experiences of what it means to be black and have these features are very different. Only in recent years has having a generous derriere been a thing of beauty. While being black - especially a darker-skinned black woman - has never been in vogue.

The kinky hair, big lips, big hips, big butts are characteristics not limited solely or common among all black women, however no other group of women have been so poorly treated and marginalized for having these features. So, it's not the same thing that you've had to contend with having a big butt or unruly hair. All you'd have to do is slap on a hat and camouflage your ass and BOOM you're back in the game! I cannot hide my skin or fully articulate the ways that the skin I'm in has affected my experiences or colored people's perceptions of me. Do I think that they author could have taken a different approach or added more historical content? Definitely. Still this is a conversation worth having. Unfortunately like most conversations "worth having" that center around race, beauty politics, and the ways in which women of color are adversely affected, the topics will be trivialized and reduced to being silly complaints, which because they are not true for you, cannot possibly be true for anybody else.

I love Jezzie, but I think I may start seeing other blogs. :(

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I hate the color, I hate the fit, I think the proportions are completely wrong for her.

If we're going to discuss the First Lady's clothes, instead of her accomplishments, I'm going to be honest. Eventually we'll get to something more substantive. I hope.

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Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, by Paul Fussell, page 52

Haven't read the articles yet, and I don't know that I'd have focused on Michelle Obama, but this is an issue. When I first read the quote above, years ago, I was taken aback and angered (By this definition, no one with a typically black body can have "class"), but I sadly realized that there was a lot of truth in the statement if you took a good hard look at American culture.

It's not an accident that having a big ass is about the worst thing you can have in the looks department, followed by kinky or frizzy hair. "Ugly Betty" has brown, frizzy hair. In movies, the crazy, undisciplined woman always has frizzy hair. If she's rehabilitated, she's always treated to a makeover in which her hair is ironed straight, and it's not completely ridiculous, dyed blond.

Ever noticed these things?

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And why are we assuming that all natural hairstyles are afros or locks? My natural hair is more Rudy Huxtable style...

Sasha and Malia wear their hair "natural", sometimes in a ponytail(s), sometimes in twists, sometimes in cornrows, sometimes pressed. To judge all Black women by the way they choose to wear their hair is just divisive and asinine.

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Basically, I'm not really a fan of my butt.

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On the other hand, Malia's braids vanished with a mighty quickness!!

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