Michelle Obama: The right to bare arms

last updated 8 January 2015

Just when we needed it most, said Maureen Dowd in The New York Times, the nation has a new and “bracing symbol of American strength.” I refer, of course, to the gym-sculpted upper arms of Michelle Obama. The First Lady’s bold, rule-breaking dress sense has already made her a national fashion icon, but her fondness for baring her arms has been the subject of disapproving mutters recently here in Washington, particularly since she went sleeveless for her husband’s first address to Congress, and again for her first official White House portrait. Thus far, Michelle has “ignored that talk, thank heavens.” In hard times like these, said Bonnie Fuller in Huffingtonpost.com, we need a First Lady who looks like Athena or Wonder Woman or some other female superhero. Rather than carping at Michelle’s sleevelessness, the nation would be better served following her example and “muscling up to help in the battle against the recession.”

Here we go again—talking about a First Lady’s fashion sense, said Jeanne McManus in The Washington Post, even though this First Lady happens to be a Princeton graduate, lawyer, and excellent public speaker. For generations, the First Lady’s primary role has been to provide “flossy fodder for the women’s pages.” Michelle Obama’s wardrobe, with its elegantly simple, sleeveless dresses from midprice catalogues like J. Crew, certainly marks a refreshing change. But in Michelle Obama we have a First Lady “who thinks smart, talks smart, and looks smart.” Wouldn’t it be nice if we could avoid reducing a strong, accomplished woman to the sum of her clothes?

I would generally agree, said Naomi Wolf in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, except that Michelle is using the language of fashion “to send out a subtle but radical message.” Like her husband going jacketless in the Oval Office, Michelle’s casual chic and admission to shopping for discount clothing online are part of a quiet but deliberate campaign to demystify and democratize the White House. Rather as the late Princess Diana did for the British monarchy, Michelle is establishing herself as “the people’s First Lady.” She’s telling women throughout the country: “I am not Nancy Reagan, dressed in Galliano, living in a gated community; I am not Hillary Clinton, disregarding such things because I must argue major cases or run states. I am you—busy, on a budget, overworked, shrewd, cute, clever, finding a way.’’ No wonder she’s the most popular First Lady since Jackie Kennedy.