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Does Michelle Obama Let Motherhood Define Her?
Is "Mom-in-Chief" too much?
Michelle Obama hasn’t done much stumping since the 2008 election, as she said in a speech today in Milwaukee. Instead, her focus since quitting a high-powered job at the University of Chicago Medical Center and becoming First Lady of the United States has been, according to her, her two daughters — and all of America’s children.
Since the campaign trail way back when, many people have talked and written about how disappointed they feel when Michelle Obama calls herself the Mom-in-Chief and focuses on nurture-y things like fighting childhood obesity and hosting Easter egg hunts.
So it’s likely that Obama has invited a new round of criticism when she said today that her kids are the center of her world. That’s bound to make her supporter-critics cringe all over again.
Here she is, a many-degreed adult who stuck with her job through the baby years, through the more difficult work-life transitions like preschool and elementary school, while her husband was away from home a lot and getting into politics. Only after all that was settled — after the presidential primaries really heated up and she was needed on the campaign trail — did she walk away from her job and put her career on indefinite hold.
And now, she says:
“My hopes for their [Sasha and Malia's] future are at the heart of every single thing I do. And that’s really why I’m here today.”
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0 Comments
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Oct 13 10 at 7:00 pmY’all are just going to keep whining that she keeps living her life on her own terms, aren’t ya?
puasamanda commented on Oct 13 10 at 7:38 pmI have no problems with the Mom-In-Chief title, nor do I feel that the First Lady is selling herself short. I am many things in this life, from worker to citizen to spouse to daughter…but being a MOTHER is truly the most defining thing in my life. I have no shame in that – in fact, I might even revel in it from time to time. Michelle Obama can live her life (and define her life) as she sees fit, just like I can. I guess some people will always want to judge that.
Laure68 commented on Oct 13 10 at 9:49 pmWhat Mistress_Scorpio said.
Don’t so many parents (moms and dads) feel this way. My parents were immigrants and worked like crazy, and I know that everything they did was in order for me to have a better life than they did. Obviously the Obamas have a successful life already, but I’m sure they still want the world to be even better for their kids.
Gretchen Powers commented on Oct 14 10 at 8:53 am“What about her own identity?”
This *is* her identity and there’s nothing wrong with that. We only see one slice of her anyway. We are WHOLE people, there is no “own” identity separate from our families, they are all facets of the same gem. What sound like a throwback to me (to 60s feminism) is the dogged need for some kind of “other” self-definition and denigration of wife and mother roles (see where this got us, with the 24/7 work cycles, expectations for 2-earner families, etc.)…women today can do whatever they want, anyway….
Rosana commented on Oct 14 10 at 8:53 amWhat kind of parent does not define their life around their kids needs??? That does not mean you do not have a life, it means that you focus in what matters most, your kids.
I still do the things (for myself) that I used to do when I did not have kids but now I have to schedule it around naps and birthday parties, etc. and would not change it for the world. If they are happy, I am happy.
Gretchen Powers commented on Oct 14 10 at 8:54 amSkinning pheasants in a world where there are lots of non-violent food choices available is disgusting, by the way.
Jenny commented on Oct 14 10 at 9:48 amThe only “non-violent food choice” in this world is veganism. If you eat meat from a supermarket you are part of the most inhumane treatment of animals you’ve ever heard of. Animals raised for supermarket sales are living in their own filth, crammed into areas where they can’t move, and killed with the utmost disrespect and inhumanity. Wild animals live a life of freedom that factory-farmed animals couldn’t even imagine. They get to live in their NATURAL habitat, eat the foods nature intended for them to eat, and if hunted by a human for meat die a quick death. They’re never forced to stand because there isn’t room to rest, they’re never forced to live in their own excrement, and they are never forced to eat food that makes them sick simply because corn is cheap.
Gretchen Powers commented on Oct 14 10 at 10:03 amMy point, exactly. I’m still not gonna be skinning any pheasants, even if they have a nice life in the wild.
Gretchen Powers commented on Oct 14 10 at 10:04 amBut let’s keep this on track, sorry…I just hate hearing about these cheesy “all American pioneer women” types who hunt and stuff like that’s some great virtue…
JEssica commented on Oct 14 10 at 10:22 amPR wise she is portraying herself as a mother first, is that the case behind closed doors? I doubt it. After all, I rarely ever saw prior presidential kids in the media, but I see these girls ALL the TIME. Looks like exploitation to me (think Lindsay, Brittany, etc). Plus what mom-centric woman would comment on her kids weight in public forum? Answer: a non-mom-centric woman.
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Frankly I don’t care what she advocates; she is just the wife of the president, not an elected offical. I believe all this focusing on the family of the president is almost turning our government into a royality based government, which is why I would never vote for Hilary Clinton and did not vote for George Bush Junior. People should rise to power based on their own merits not because they are related to an elected offical.
michelle commented on Oct 14 10 at 10:51 amI’m sick of all the judgment. If she were out on the campaign trail or tried to get involved in policy or (horrors) kept her job at UCMC, she’d be judged harshly for that too (yes, Jill Biden still has her practice, but she’s not the FLOTUS and gets only a fraction of the attention). Sounds to me like she is, exactly as you said, circling the wagons to try to create the most normal possible life for her daughters and raise them to be grounded people who are motivated to achieve something in their own right. This does not mean she can’t have an identity of her own. “Identity” is not a zero sum game where if you are a mom you can never be anything else. Moms understand this. Many women move in and out of careers in their lives, focusing on different things for different reasons. Michelle Obama is extremely smart, capable and ambitious, and I bet we will see great things from her later on. Hopefully she gets another 6 years to be mom in chief.
JEssica commented on Oct 14 10 at 1:43 pmSure, she is circling the wagons if circling wagon means putting her children on television to face public scrutiny.
michelle commented on Oct 14 10 at 2:42 pmHow exactly is she “putting her children on TV”?
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