I’ve been thinking about Michelle Obama’s butt lately.

Well, sort of.

Last week I blogged about the recent Salon.com article by Erin Aubrey Kaplan about Michelle Obama’s booty.  Focusing on this Princeton-and-Harvard grad’s rear attributes offended me, and so I wrote:

Objectifying the female half of the soon-to-be-most-prominent black couple in American culture so uncomfortable in a lot of ways.  I point you towards Amanda Fortini’s wonderfully thorough piece in New York magazine about female stereotypes this past election, specifically “Bitch” Clinton and “Ditz” Palin. She touches on how Michelle struggled with the “angry black woman” stereotype earlier in the campaign, before becoming an easier-to-swallow “mom-in-chief” — cute daughters and puppy in tow.  What will happen if we turn our attention to her bootylicious ass?

Other writers agreed with me.  Dodai from Jezebel asked “Are we really having a conversation about the future First Lady’s bottom?”  Even Salon.com’s feminist blog, Broadsheet, questioned whether the article was a good idea. (Disclosure: I’ve blogged for Broadsheet before.)  But then an interesting thing happened.  But as we chattered away, a chorus of voices came to Erin Aubrey Kaplan’s defense.

Actually, I sense they had more appreciation for Michelle Obama than they did for Kaplan, but nevertheless, these women thought we should *not* not have discussions about the First Lady’s booty.  I honestly been oblivious to Michelle’s body type, but some women see the President elect’s wife — with her height and curves — as a breath of fresh air from the Mamie Eisenhower mold.  Finally a woman with curves!  Who isn’t a size 2!  Who looks like she’s been told to diet in her life!  Michelle Obama, it seems, is being imbued with the power to change the tone of body image discussion in America away from Eurocentric thinness.

Thank God someone’s talking about her normal-sized butt, these women said.  How empowering for us real women. Where I saw rudeness, they say a new, high visability role model.  And where I saw racial stereotyping, they saw racial pride.

I’m from a rather buttoned-up, WASPy part of Connecticut, where it’s “impolite” to talk about a person’s body, let alone a public figure’s body, this way.  I would freak out of someone talked about MY booty, for example.  Which is not to say that other people in other parts of the country are impolite, but to point out that different people have ingrained perspectives. My knee-jerk reaction to the Michelle Obama story was to think it was tasteless, because that’s how I’d feel if it happened to me.

I still mostly feel the same way about Kaplan’s article as I did when it first came out.  But my eyes have been opened a bit more and I know realize that talking about Michelle Obama’s butt…well, it might just be liberating.

Did you know Obama’s favorite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
Or that he worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can’t stand ice cream? Click here for the UK Telegraph’s list of the 50 facts you might not know about Barack Obama like the fact that he drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300. Want to follow Obama’s lead and trade in your automobile for an eco-friendlier car?takepart and donate your old car to Habitat For Humanity.
By donating a car to Habitat’s Cars for Homes™ car donation program, you help your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate build houses in partnership with families in need of decent, affordable shelter. Visit http://www.habitat.org/carsforhomes for more info.

Yes, yes they did.

(Disclosure: I’ve written for Salon.com’s Broadsheet blog in the past.)

The author, a black woman named Erin Aubry Kaplan, begins:

…what really thrills me, what really feels liberating in a very personal way, is the official new prominence of Michelle Obama. Barack’s better half not only has stature but is statuesque. She has corruscating intelligence, beauty, style and — drumroll, please — a butt. (Yes, you read that right: I’m going to talk about the first lady’s butt.)

Objectifying the female half of the soon-to-be-most-prominent black couple in American culture so uncomfortable in a lot of ways.  I point you towards Amanda Fortini’s wonderfully thorough piece in New York magazine about female stereotypes this past election, specifically “Bitch” Clinton and “Ditz” Palin. She touches on how Michelle struggled with the “angry black woman” stereotype earlier in the campaign, before becoming an easier-to-swallow “mom-in-chief” — cute daughters and puppy in tow.  What will happen if we turn our attention to her bootylicious ass?

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Do you love Michelle Obama’s style? If you’re one of the many who dig the duds of our soon-to-be first lady then check out http://www.mrs-o.org/. Mrs. O is a website dedicated to following the fashion of Michelle Obama.

The Mrs. O site was initially inspired by Mrs. Obama’s wardrobe at the Democratic National Convention in August 2008. The site will help visitors stay on top of the latest regarding Mrs. O’s look, and provide fashion commentary and information. Site visitors can also contribute tips, photos and personal observations.

And if you’re also a stylish someone like the beloved Mrs. O, chances are you have plenty of old clothes you don’t need. If so, why not organize a clothing drive and help others while also creating some new closet space. takepart and check out http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/clothesdrive.htm for a great guide on how to organize a clothing drive.

Many many months ago, we told you that the incredibly-bearded Chuck Norris had asked Congress to drill here and now.  Well, Norris is back, and has posted an open letter to President-elect Obama (if you recall, Bush has, oh, let’s say…three months left?), giving him some advice.

It seems Norris is concerned that “Democrats have a virtual monopoly over our land, with control of the White House, both houses of Congress, a majority of gubernatorial positions, state legislatures, the courts, the news media, the unions and the entertainment and educational fields,” and wants to make sure this doesn’t ruin the good thing going we have called AMERICA.  And so he says,

It’s no big surprise that I don’t see politically eye-to-eye with you. Actually, I stand in stark opposition to most of your politics. Still, even in our differences, I realize that we must learn to work together if we are to see our country get back on track. After Election Day, I asked myself, despite the outcome, how can I work for our new president to help better America? Then the thought occurred to me, the first question that should be answered is: How will you work for me? After all, it is “We, the People” of the Constitution for whom you are employed, correct?

It’s kind of like what JFK said upon inaguration, except the exact and complete opposite.  Anyhow, Norris outlines four points for Obama to follow to be a good president:

1. Use and cite the Constitution. What does this entail, Mr. Norris?

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(*photo from The Huffington Post)

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Even if it’s just the beginning of the end of Guantanamo, what good news! It’s nice to know that even though Obama is focusing on the economy he’s still paying attention to the war and all things related.

From the Huffington Post:

“President-elect Obama’s advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.”

The article goes on to to classify how all levels of prisoners would be dealt with, with some prisoners needing a new court system that could deal with their entanglement with highly classified issues.

I have to say that this makes me super excited. Even thought it might be slightly controversial and something new, it is something that takes into account people’s rights (something the current administration didn’t seem to care very much about).

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As President-elect Obama said in his acceptance speech on Tuesday night, he and his family will be bringing a new member with them when they settle into the White House-a dog.  And, news stories report that the dog will be lovingly adopted from a shelter.  How great is it that the Obamas are already making an exemplary choice as the soon-to-be first family by adopting a dog?  Hopefully this will spurn national interest by  families across the country to skip breeders and puppy mills and instead choose a beautiful mutt or pure-bred from a local shelter or animal rescue group.  Coincidentally, this happens to be National Animal Shelter Week and the Obamas’ choice is probably the best PR ever for this movement. I don’t need to remind everyone of the millions of dogs and cats that are annually killed by shelters because of the unmanageable number of animals they receive. TakePart by visiting the Humane Society’s Animal Shelter site today to find your local shelter to adopt a pet or volunteer.

I live in New York City and more than that I don’t have a super conventional lifestyle, meaning despite my love love love of dogs, having one is kind of out of the question.  I am therefore supremely jealous of Malia and Sasha Obama, who not only get an awesome new home to call their own but also, according to their father, a new dog!

There’s a lot of internet chatter about what dog they girls should get and where they should get it from.  The Obamas say that is is imperative that they adopt the dog from an animal shelter or rescue group.  Which is so awesome!

If you’re thinking of joining the Obamas in adding a dog to your family, be sure to takepart and adopt with the ASPCA.

And go after the jump to see President-Elect Obama’s speech where he mentions the puppy (and hope!)

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Early this morning I joined the Obama campaign at the Hyatt in Century City to make calls to swing states. It was glorious to speak with inspired and excited folks from Virginia. Here are some pics from the morning! (psst! Donald Sutherland was sitting in the front of the room!)

The call room

Blogger Sarah Newman

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