OMG, Michelle Obama has arms!

by Mindy on March 25, 2009

Just look at them, they go all the way up to her shoulders. Apparently, Michelle Obama appearing in a sleeveless dress for her official portrait has got conservative American up in arms (ha! see what I did there). I mean really, she’s young, she has lovely arms why shouldn’t she show them off? Why does showing her arms make her the target of conservatives accusing her of impropriety*? What is wrong with arms?

Those of you following the link will notice that the piece also talks about Australian aspiring politician Pauline Hanson. I think that story has had enough airing now so please refrain from commenting on either the photos, which were not of her, or on her policies.

* Impropriety: from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary – the quality or state of being improper.

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Tagged as: arms, impropriety, michelle obama, peeves

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This article was written by mindy

Mindy has always had feminist leanings, but didn't know how to put words to them until finding Hoyden. She is still very much a work in progress. She has two children, three cats, three chooks and one husband. She does not take advice from Bettina Ardnt, Miranda Devine, or either of the Sams.

mindy has written 42 posts for Hoyden About Town. If you liked this post, you might like to subscribe to the feed via RSS or EMAIL to get instantly updated for more posts like this.

{ 6 comments }

1 orlando March 25, 2009 at 3:45 pm: I’m going to cling to the hope that this is a first tentative baby step towards Michelle Obama doing some things that don’t make her a Perfect Conservative. Maybe she’ll give an interview about something other than clothes and cookies? Maybe she’ll make a public statement that doesn’t include an insistance that nothing is as important as her being a mom? Maybe she might even go back to working as – gasp – a lawyer, too? Because I’m still waiting for her to do something that doesn’t come out of the “Being a Perfect First Lady” handbook circa 1956.
2 Mindy March 25, 2009 at 3:48 pm: I hope you are right orlando, although if this is the result of showing her arms goodness knows what they would come up with if she actually did something that wasn’t in the handbook. While I would applaud her for doing it, I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the end of the sh*tstorm that would ensue.
3 Kirstente March 25, 2009 at 10:20 pm: Also, the fact that she has lovely arms makes no difference to her right to show them. She has no obligation to look pretty.

Kirstente’s last blog post..Online activism.
4 Mindy March 26, 2009 at 9:20 am: @ Kirstente

Absolutely. My point was that she fits the patriarchal beauty standard of thin toned arms, so why are they bitching about her showing them?
5 tigtog March 27, 2009 at 8:00 am: The First Guns (aka Thunder and Lightning) now have their own blog.

From a post on The Arms in Winter:

[Wendy Donauhe said] that our appearance at President Obama’s February 24 address to Congress and in Michelle’s official photo are somehow “informal and out of season.” They think we shouldn’t be seen in the colder months of the year. We didn’t notice people having seasonal issues with Cindy McCain wearing turtlenecks and leather blazers all summer but whatever.
6 MomTFH March 29, 2009 at 11:35 am: I don’t remember them kicking up a fuss when Nancy Reagan bared her arms all the time.

MomTFH’s last blog post..Reply turned post, tired-of-pushing style