Michelle Obama a champion for American women
by Justine Panieri September 12, 2012 5:18PM
After my last column, in which I expressed the opinion that those who have more than enough should share with those barely surviving, an anonymous reader sent me a letter.
Among other things, the woman — as I’m pretty sure it was a woman — circled something I wrote and commented, “You little snot!”
I smirked. It meant that I had evoked feelings in a reader. On an opinion page, that’s what you want. You don’t have to agree with me, but I’ve achieved my goal if you get all emotional after reading my column.
As a female on the verge of becoming an adult, the idea of being called a “little snot” is disturbing. If I were a male writer, would the reader have called me something so original?
With all the woman-bashing in politics lately, I feel a bit depressed. My generation grew up with the expectation that females can compete with males on nearly every level. Now, women are being dissected to see if we are truly human. It seems Republicans want to us return to a “barefoot and pregnant” status in society.
I’m counting on Michelle Obama to change all that.
You need only to observe her body language to understand that Michelle is the power behind her husband’s throne. She’s well-spoken, intelligent and strong. Michelle is tall and carries herself like a queen. She’s not afraid to sweat or to express an opinion. The woman oozes self-confidence and class.
Then there’s Ann Romney. There recently was a photo of the Romneys kissing on the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times. To me, it looked like Ann was puckering up to smooch a porcupine. If you’ve ever seen a photo of the Obamas kissing, you can tell it’s for real.
In Ann Romney, there’s a rather simpering air of “stand by your man” — but only if he’s successful. She has a “deer in the headlights” look about her that says, “I’m terrified of aging,” and, “I’m nothing without a rich man.”
She wears her contrived femininity as a badge. From the bleach blonde “Barbie hair” to the calculating glint in her eye, she’s the cheerleader that scored the quarterback.
You may or may not like the Obamas, but few would argue that Michelle could survive very well on her own. When Michelle speaks, you know Barack listens.
Michelle doesn’t like what Republicans are saying about women. My guess is that there’s no way she’s going to sit back and let her daughters, Sasha and Malia, grow up believing that their main purpose in life is to birth as many babies as humanly possible.
Even if by some disaster Obama loses the race for president, Michelle will still be out there fighting the good fight for women. But I’m guessing Barack Obama will be re-elected, and the ridiculous war on women will come to an end.
Thank you, Michelle Obama, for being the power behind the throne and for setting a fine example of what a woman should strive to be — not only for your daughters — but for the rest of us.
Email Justine Panieri
at gotcommonsense17@aol.com.
