First Lady’s shorts spark reader responses
In a recent you! section of The Oklahoman, I asked readers if they thought it was appropriate for First Lady Michelle Obama to wear shorts in public. The question was in response to the following story from the Associated Press:
By now, Michelle Obama has firmly established her sartorial right to bare arms. But baring thighs may be another matter.
Photographs of the first lady descending the steps of Air Force One in shorts have the media in a sweat. Some are saying Mrs. Obama — on her way to the Grand Canyon for a family vacation — may have revealed too much skin.
Mrs. Obama is no stranger to public scrutiny over her fashion decisions, including exposing her bare arms or wearing expensive sneakers to a soup kitchen.
The Huffington Post posted a poll for readers to explain what they thought: Most were in favor of the outfit, but others thought the shorts were inappropriate or too short.
NBC’s “Today” show poll had similar results with a whopping 300,000 people responding to the vote. The blog post was the show’s most commented-on of 2009, said Dee Dee Thomas, a “Today” senior producer.
What does this show?
“That people love talking about Michelle Obama,” Thomas said. “She’s pushing the envelope on how we see the first lady.”
Here are a few of our readers’ responses, exactly as they were sent to me.
“Shorts are fine ! She is on vacation.” –Wanda
“As the first lady of this nation it only polite thing to do and that is to dress like a woman of respect and to dress like the woman she was is a disgrace to the White House and shows she is indepent of what others think and to do as she wants! Wear shorts in private that is her business BUT NOT OUT IN PUBLIC.” — Luther Newman, Clinton
“I feel her short were ok. She’s on vacation and should be allowed to relax and dress comfortable. What do you’ll want her to wear dressy dress and peal’s all the time. Leave her alone and let her enjoy her vacation.”– Sandra Rogers
“Michelle Obama bares too much, ALL the time! She does not carry herself with the dignity of the office!”– annonymous
My thoughts? Michelle Obama looks great and I agree with Sandra and Wanda: she’s on vacation! I think Michelle not only dresses appropriately for most occasions, but she is a good role model for women because she doesn’t dress as if the clothes make the woman. I think that many women today are far too competitive in the way they dress. Dressing to the nines doesn’t make you a better person or more worthy of public admiration. We should value women for their intellect and their contributions to society and not for how sexy, well-dressed or in-shape they are.
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