She does have a badonkadonk!

Everyone made all kinds of noise about the "terrorist fist bump" between Michelle and Barack but no one said a word about what followed exactly two seconds later - Barack patted her azz. Watch the video. He likes that bubble.

I realize that in comparison to her many other - dare I say it? - assets, a fixation on her butt seems trivial. But to women who have had the shape of their bodies described as defective, it is an acknowledgement. I could look at this as yet another fetishization with black women's physiognomy, a phenomena that has been going on in this country in a hateful way for years. But I choose to put this in the category with Sir Mixx Alot, and take it as a complement and and acknowledgement of black women's (and some other's) special attractiveness.

Wow, now that you mention it…

This makes my ample Italian behind happy. Looking back at all the former First Ladies, could this be our first with an actual butt? Good- maybe they'll make more sophisticated clothing for be-bootied women!

The author of the article is named Erin Aubrey Kaplan, which made me feel better. A man would have been treading thin ice…

Whatever. Hillary was no flat ass.

#4 — Treading thin ice nothing. A man who wrote that article would have fallen through and found himself without many helping to pull him out.

That said, I read and re-read this article hoping that Erin was writing this article tongue-in-cheek but all I managed to do was find myself laughing at using "tongue-in-cheek" in this context.

Cord, I'm not one of the old guard posters who constantly criticizes your posts…but I am an old guard poster, lol, I digress. Anyway, I think you should leave it to the women to decide how we feel about this. Way prior to reading this article or seeing your post on it, I noticed Michelle's butt and smiled. Just like her height, her graduate degree, the care she lavishes on her daughters, her complexion, her black woman's bottom is another thing that makes her like me and/or the women in my family. I have not seen a woman like this/a woman like me in the White House before. Like many women of color, I am reveling in this first. We will continue to note the similarities and connections….we will continue to be proud.

Cord,

All due respect, but I'd be lying if I said that my group of black women associates hadn't had a conversation about exactly that subject. What the author was trying to do was say "Yeah, for us. She looks like us." I don't think she handled it well, but the point of the matter is, that a lot of sistas are thrilled that a homegirl, backs and all, is in the White House. Unfortunately, this country has a history of objectifying women in general and black women specifically. I don't think that was her intention.

Hillary Cliton has a pretty big butt and really big legs, why didn't anyone ever make mention of that?

Is it because that would have been the improper thing to do to, a White, First Lady?

I seem to recall Hillary's cankles getting a fair bit of mention during the campaign.

What? Big butt = pride? Really?

"Hillary Cliton has a pretty big butt and really big legs, why didn't anyone ever make mention of that?"

Actually, they were mentioned, in a… less than celebratory manner. Sucks to be a woman in politics that way.

You said it, No.12 TINKA.
Yep, another proud intellectual reduced to the sum of her bits.

Never, ever thought of her bum. She isn't selling her body to make it (JLo, Beyoncé, etc); she made her success with her brain.
And YES, her body is being discussed because it is black. Can you imagine discussing Barbara Bush's bum?

I noticed a lot of straight women looking and commenting on other women's bodies in ways that I would never do. I guess they are used to be judged that way; so they do it to others.

I don't think you get it at all, but whatever.

It's way more: she talks like me, she looks like me, she might like the same music I like, have the same values I have, etc., etc. And yes, the butt is part of that. Geez! Nobody is saying "oooh, her ass is so fat she should be in a music video" or some other ridiculousness. Context is everything, guys.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did not read the entire article. So I cannot address whether or not I think the actual article in question is in poor taste. Thus, I am not commenting in the new thread on this topic. However, I stand by my point that noticing it is just natural for many black women who feel connected to and admire Michelle Obama.

INAPPROPRIATE…period…this is the First Lady of the United States…some things are better left unsaid.

Well this has been enlightening, perhaps I should be more sensitive than I am. Are you all arguing that we black women shouldn't even note it in our heads/consciousness when we see her pictures? Shouldn't discuss it in our social circles? Or are you just saying an article in the Sun-Times was in poor taste?

I agree with Khia and Cord. The fact that the media fetishizes women in power, race aside, is in poor taste because it just reinforces mysogynistic gender roles.

i get it Gossipjunkie. i do however, think it was in poor taste. not offended by it, but sis could of picked another subject to emphasize Michelle's "like me" quality. kind hinges on racist sexism if you ask me depending on who is reading the article. not just black women, but the whole readership of the Chicago Sun-Times.

I was taught that there are things that are perfectly acceptable topics of discussion at home, but that well-mannered people would never discuss such things in public.

To any women who would care to answer: Would you have the same feelings if a group of your friends were discussing your anatomy that you would have if some random discussion of your anatomy were to appear in your company, school or church newsletter? Personally, I would have absolutely no problem with the former and many problems with the latter. In my opinion, the Erin Aubry Kaplan article under discussion falls into the latter category.

I think that a discussion on the backside of the First Lady of the United States of America is not a suitable topic for a public forum such as a newspaper article or a blog article.

we are our own worst enemies and at times i am ashamed of my own people.

to talk about Mrs. Obama this way is disrespectul.

Nobody hates Blacks more than BLacks hate Blacks.

having a little "junk in your trunk" should be a sign of healthy living and beauty- I like it so its cool to me

sexy