Michelle Obama Presents Herself as Mostly Just a Mom
By Jesse Singal - Nov 7th, 2008 at 3:56 pmDana Goldstein has a good post on the rather retrograde manner in which Michelle Obama is presented on her husband’s transition website.
Dana excerpts the following from Michelle’s bio:
When people ask Michelle Obama to describe herself, she doesn’t hesitate. First and foremost, she is Malia and Sasha’s mom.
But before she was a mother - or a wife, lawyer, or public servant - she was Fraser and Marian Robinson’s daughter.
The problem, of course, is that no one expects Barack to lead with the fact that he is a father first and foremost, and to act as though all of his academic and professional accomplishments come second to that. But, as Dana points out, because Michelle is the First Lady, and is supposed to fill in a well-defined role, the fact that she herself is extremely accomplished and intelligent is set aside.
Yes, Michelle’s bio goes into details about all that she’s done, but it’s telling that it starts the way it does. Given the context of Obama’s campaign, it would have been nice to see something a bit less… traditional.
Post a Comment