Stark Raving Madeleine

In a world of hype, where personalities and politicians speak only in contrived soundbites it was refreshing to see Michelle Obama on Barbara Walters’ The View this morning. With grace, dignity, wit, and charm, Michelle manouvered through the often trite, sometimes annoying, occasionally bitchy maze that is The View.

Honest and straightforward, this is a woman who is strong and real, funny and intelligent, confident and yet, not vain. Michelle Obama is exactly the kind of woman I want to look up to. She shows us that a woman can be strong and powerful without being shrill or bitchy, that a woman can wear pretty dresses without being thought a bimbo, that a woman can be friendly to other women without being disingenuous. She is a mother, wife, career woman, and everygirl. In that rarity, she shows us how our culture has become one of extremes. (check back for upcoming post - Moderation in a World of Extremes) More of us need to accept who we are instead of allowing our selves to be stuffed into labels: good girl/bad girl, housewife/career woman, bitch/pushover…

I get that she might have some anger, some passion, some frustrations… we all do. I’d rather see it than to wonder what’s really going on under the vacant, placid masks of previous First Ladies (Laura Bush, anyone?) You get the distinct impression that Michelle Obama is a woman who understands that life has ups and downs, that people make mistakes, that meaning is more important than appearance.

Michelle Obama is a woman who has found an authentic voice, she is a true role model for the feminist cause and a great example of the American Dream.

Tags: barack obama, Barbara Walters, Career Woman, Elizabeth Hasselback, Housewife, Michelle Obama, Moderation, Modern Feminism, The View