Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
-
posts about #themissus more → 
Michelle Obama Travels The World And All Anyone Cares About Are Her Clothes & Her Color
New York, 11:31 PM
Tue Nov 10
68 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jezebel.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
Email | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
Email | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
Email | Twitter
Sadie Stein
Email | Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
Email
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
Email | Twitter
Contributors:
Jenna Sauers
Email
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Lizzie Skurnick
Email
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
| posts about #themissus more → |
Michelle Obama Travels The World And All Anyone Cares About Are Her Clothes & Her Color |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
04/09/09
It's hard to complain about light coverage when the first lady keeps a light schedule.
04/11/09
04/08/09
What happens when the emphasis is on her clothes is that the substance of what she's saying and doing get short shrift, which is EXACTLY how those who want to undermine her and her role would like to see happen. So don't buy into it! And focus on her speeches and how she's making a difference.
What I would have loved to have seen is an article about her visit to the girls school in London (which I thought demonstrated her special qualities) SANS any mention of her clothes!
So can Jezebel do that? Cover her activities and leave out the sartorial obsessions...please?
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
What an affront to the fashion industry and everything it stands for!
Please. Give me an effing break, de la Renta.
04/08/09
I know Jezebel just reports the inanity that happens in the MSM, so it's not the Jezeditrices' fault--it's just getting a little old how the media seems to be constantly bleating about OMG HER ARMS or OMG LOOK HER DESIGNER CLOTHES or OMG JCREW IT'S SO POPULIST ad nauseum ad nauseum ad nauseum. Surely I'm not the only one who's reaching a saturation point?
04/08/09
Just a guess.
(P.S. Jezecolor discussion meltdown in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...)
04/08/09
04/08/09
Just daydreaming there for a minute.
You know, since everyone else out at Buckingham Palace seems to be wearing their sweaters today.
04/08/09
Funny isn't it...Dodai made a very thoughtful mention of race in the post, but most of the commenters here only want to discuss the fashion angle. It might not be pretty but talking about racism is the only way to solve it, which means engaging women of color openly and honestly and being willing to listen to what they have to say about race (because any meaningful discussion we have about politics or policy is going to involve race).
I think the reaction of commenters to this post - and the one earlier in the week - explain exactly what's happening in the media and society at large.
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
let's finish that thought:
... put their designs on African American moddles, maybe she thinks you don't want them worn by her ilk.
/sarcasm
04/08/09
i know this from experience.
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
*snort*
04/08/09
How can we make this better for you?
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
Has the Queen put her arm around you? I thought not. STFU.
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
Maybe it's because I was born in the late 70's, but my mother raised me to be exactly like that. And how is Oprah insecure about her blackness?!? Seems to me she is rather proud of it!
04/08/09
04/08/09
But the fact is there is a certain cognitive dissonance that occurs for most successful minorities. In order to succeed in this country (in the "mainstream" as opposed to in ethnic enclaves) there is a certain amount of "selling out" you have to do: assimilating to White cultural norms, ignoring or denying racism on a daily basis, submitting respectfully to racist White folk in positions of authority, stifling indignation and cognitively separating your ethnic identity from the stereotype of your ethnic identity that is presented in the dominant culture so that "they" don't think you're "too [insert race/ethnicity]".
It's exhausting but moreover if you succeed at it you are often left with some incredibly difficult and confusing emotions.
04/08/09
Well, I am confuzzled. I don't know what these "norms" are, nor do I see how Michelle flouts them. (Aside from being decidedly upper-class.) Can anyone explain?
04/08/09
A few ways Michelle flouts the norms (off the top of my head):
*She brought her mother to live in the White House
*She lets her daughters run around in braids
*She shows little enthusiasm for traditional upper-class society functions and kissing the ass of organizations like DAR, The Junior League, even Jack and Jill (who I bet 98% of this readership is unfamiliar with)
*She shows her arms, which are toned and muscular
*She gives you the impression that if Barack stepped out of line of her she'd get 'hood on a muh'fuh; she does not stand simpering by his side
*She never once apologized for Reverend Wright
*She wrote an undergraduate thesis subtitled,"F**k Whitey" (not really...but really)
Give her time to get comfortable and hopefully there will be more...she's a proud sister and I LOVE the way she's playing the game right now!
04/08/09
04/08/09
One thing that I admire and envy in Michelle Obama is her apparent comfort with herself and her place in the world. I wish we had more women like that in public, and I wish I could adopt the attitude more fully myself.
But does the comparison to Oprah ring true? Is Oprah Winfrey "outwardly insecure about her Negritude"?
I haven't picked up on that, but I will admit that it's not the sort of thing that's on my daily radar, as a white woman. I'm more painfully aware of Oprah's self-flagellation over weight issues, and the fact that she's kind of treated like an angel when I suspect she's just a really powerful and pretty good person.
Or do we have to compare Oprah and Michelle Obama because they are the only two universally acknowledged powerful African-American women in this American moment?
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
I'm reminded of when she openly endorsed Obama and refused have Palin on her show. She lost a bit of her audience from that because, in the audience's mind, Oprah's role is to serve her audience's needs and never make them feel uncomfortable or provide anything other than what they expect from her.
One of biggest beefs with O is that she will have Gloria Steinem on her show -- and declare her the mother of feminism -- but not bell hooks. I love her but Steinem speaking about feminism on Oprah would be a lot more palatable for the target audience than bell hook. Once again never making the audience question their own beliefs, just reinforcing the ones they already have.
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
04/08/09
@Jessi Ramsey: This makes a lot of sense to me. It fell into place in my mind like: Ka-Chunk! She might not have set out consciously to fill that role, but she fit right into it, didn't she. Sure she's powerful, but what is she doing? She's taking care of "us," whoever "us" may be. Kind of the nation's own Magical Negro, even if on a subconscious level. Though I do think that she tries to challenge her audience sometimes -- it's just that we (you and me, the average Jez reader) are not truly her audience. It's easy to forget sometimes how much the big, wide world still needs to move forward, and that it generally does so with baby steps.
@thesciencegirl sees white people.: That's just funny. Because it's true! Or sad, cause it's true.
04/08/09
Off to try to find that clip...
04/09/09
Black women can't be as cute as white women + she talks often about hating her skin color and hair? No, no, that is wrong, that is all wrong. Wow. I'm really honestly unable to respond coherently right now. You see, this is what happens when you get all your pop culture information second hand -- you miss the really important stuff...!
04/08/09
"Shocking News! Women are Individuals!"
"More Shocking News!! BLACK Women are individuals!"
"Unrelated: Thousands Confused and Alarmed, Turn to Fox News for Comfortable Hate."
04/08/09
04/08/09
Obama was a working woman before the election and I think one of the big issue people have with her is class based.
On the one hand, people have a problem with the fact that she didn't adopt the life of a kept, wealthy woman by commissioning designer duds from established designers. She dressed and shopped in the same manner friends of mine who still practice law in Chicago. Boutiques, a few pricey pieces from Needless Markups or Nordstrom's and a spattering of cheap fun stuff.
She was the primary earner in their family and supported her husband while he pursued a political career that left them financially struggling for years. These people aren't pissed about what she's wearing. They're pissed about the decisions she made that resulted in Barak Obama's presidence.
04/08/09
04/08/09
Ahahahaha. :D
04/08/09
*sigh*