The Right to Bare Arms

Why is everyone so worried about Michelle Obama’s bare arms? I find some new column or article discussing the appropriateness of her attire every time I check the news. Apparently there is a question about whether or not showing bare arms is appropriate for a First Lady. Really?

It’s her arms. Arms are not tits. Arms are not your ass. Arms have nothing to do with reproduction or genitals or any of the other things we’re supposed to be embarrassed about in this country. So why is the media in such a tizzy about Michelle Obama’s thing for sleeveless shifts? 

The lady has a trademark style. She’s tall and lean with broad shoulders, long arms and long legs. She likes flats and shift dresses because they work on her body. I’m 5’3” with big hips and boobs. You’ll never see me in anything under a 3-inch heel unless I’m at the gym, which I never am.  I dress like a Vargas pin-up because that’s what works on me. It’s not a statement on my sexual availability; it’s just what flatters me. If I wore shift dresses and flats I’d look like a Teletubbie.

Could this country be freaked out that there’s a woman with sex appeal in the white house? Michelle Obama is obviously taking fashion clues from Jackie Kennedy who sported the same type of sleeveless dresses Michelle has been criticized for. Why then was Kennedy widely praised as a fashion icon and had the entire country in love with her?I don’t really think it’s about Michelle Obama’s level of attractiveness or sex appeal. I think there’s something else going on. There were many ugly comments made and much serious scrutiny of Michelle Obama during the primaries, mostly from conservative pundits, sexists like Chris Matthews and various Fox news talking heads. Think back to June of 2008; Michelle Obama was referred to as an “angry black woman” on Fox. The sexism was really deep last summer and both Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were getting pummeled by it. That said, I wonder if this sudden question of propriety in regards to Michelle Obama’s bare arms stems from a fear of a black woman who is also physically strong? She’s toned and buff and apparently spends time in the gym. I wonder if she’d be getting the same criticism is she were shorter, rounder, softer or white?

Lots of former first ladies have had their own unique sense of style. I remember all sorts of lace and dramatic gowns on Nancy Reagan. And other countries don’t put their politicians and wives through this type of dress code pressure. Last summer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was spotted at the opera with cleavage of magnificent proportions, cleavage befitting a Chancellor, I’d say. 

And while US and UK tabloids made a big deal out of Merkel’s purple mountains majesty, Merkel was totally nonplussed by the response. She thought the attention was silly and there was no tsk tsk for her to deal with at home in Germany.

Michelle Obama is a healthy, strong, intelligent mother of two young girls. She emanates a fierce protectiveness of her family and a love of her husband. Isn’t that what we usually adulate?