Michelle Obama’s body has been the subject of dicussions all over the web since her husband became the Democrat’s nomination for president. Is her booty too big, does she cover it up, is she too black, does she wear her blackness well, etc etc.

The following video is a follow up video to this essay which leads off with the opening sentence, “The first time I saw Michelle Obama in the flesh, I almost took her for white.”

Now besides the fact that I have a problem with the way the men open this segment, stumbling around a way to talk about Michelle’s ass in a non-piggy way and I’m getting rather sick of Michelle’s body being subject for discussion as if her body doesn’t deserve a little damn privacy every once in a while, I think that the post and the video are both interesting–they actually discuss class as it interacts with blackness.

An interesting line from the essay:

When I saw Obama in Chicago and took her for white, it was not because of her cadences, mannerisms, or dress, but because of the radical proposition she put forth—a black community fully vested, no DuBoisian veil, in the country at large. A buddy of mine once remarked that Michelle “makes Barack black.” But that understates things. She doesn’t simply make Barack black—she makes him American.

It’s an interesting idea–the idea that how Michelle carries herself makes Barack–but one that however interesting it is, I still rebell at.

Can a woman’s body really make a man what he is? And if it does-should it?

via NPR