This is an angle that had not occurred to me before; it came as a revelation to me. But it makes perfect sense; Michelle is a very good role model for many third world women.
In many countries (like India), the darker the woman, the more she is looked down upon. In general women enjoy a lower status than men, but darker the woman, less highly she is regarded, the lighter the woman in color, better off she is (she will get a richer husband, will enjoy higher standard of living etc.).
But here is Michelle; she is as dark as they come. Yet she does not suffer a second class status, her husband does not look down on her for being dark.
A greater shame, ignominy a woman in the third world can suffer is to have no sons, have only daughters. This prejudice is universal, all pervading in the third world. Indeed, I remember something my Indian friend told me. He knows of two old women in his village. Both had three daughters each. Yet one looks down on the other. Why? Because one woman did have sons, but they all died in infancy (infant mortality was high in the old days). So she had both sons and daughters, but only daughters survived. But the other woman had only three daughters, she didn’t have any sons. So the first woman considers herself to be the better person and looks down on the other. Indeed, it is routine in some parts of India to abort the fetus if it is female.
But here is Michele Obama with two daughters. It doesn’t bother her, it doesn’t bother her husband, it doesn’t bother anybody. She continues to enjoy high status in the country.
So I can understand why she is a role model to third world women the world over. Those who focus on Michelle Obama's impact on America are underestimating her reach. The first lady is inspiring women of color around the globe to look at themselves, and America, in fresh ways.
"She might be the first woman of color that females in male-dominated countries have seen as confident, bright, educated, articulate and persuasive," says Barbara Perry, author of "Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier."
Reverby says this is the first time many women have seen their class and color reflected in America's first lady
Thu Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, wasn't at the London school, but she experienced a similar sense of elation when Obama became first lady.
in her native country, she says women "are not human beings." But when Obama became the first lady, Nguyen called her niece and told her that any hard-working woman could become the first.
Vietnamese women can identify with Michelle Obama, Nguyen says.
Sue Mbaya of Nairobi, Kenya, says the first lady inspires African woman to assert themselves in their personal and professional lives.
Many African women are conditioned to be subservient, she says. They're prevented from rising to management positions in the workplace, and their families often relegate them to taking care of household tasks while sending their brothers off to school.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/first.lady/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/first.lady/index.html
Anyway, it is a long article, you may read it here. But it is possible that Michelle will inspire third world women like no other woman before her. Her impact will probably be bigger than the impact Hilary would have had, if she had become the President.
In many countries (like India), the darker the woman, the more she is looked down upon. In general women enjoy a lower status than men, but darker the woman, less highly she is regarded, the lighter the woman in color, better off she is (she will get a richer husband, will enjoy higher standard of living etc.).
But here is Michelle; she is as dark as they come. Yet she does not suffer a second class status, her husband does not look down on her for being dark.
A greater shame, ignominy a woman in the third world can suffer is to have no sons, have only daughters. This prejudice is universal, all pervading in the third world. Indeed, I remember something my Indian friend told me. He knows of two old women in his village. Both had three daughters each. Yet one looks down on the other. Why? Because one woman did have sons, but they all died in infancy (infant mortality was high in the old days). So she had both sons and daughters, but only daughters survived. But the other woman had only three daughters, she didn’t have any sons. So the first woman considers herself to be the better person and looks down on the other. Indeed, it is routine in some parts of India to abort the fetus if it is female.
But here is Michele Obama with two daughters. It doesn’t bother her, it doesn’t bother her husband, it doesn’t bother anybody. She continues to enjoy high status in the country.
So I can understand why she is a role model to third world women the world over. Those who focus on Michelle Obama's impact on America are underestimating her reach. The first lady is inspiring women of color around the globe to look at themselves, and America, in fresh ways.
"She might be the first woman of color that females in male-dominated countries have seen as confident, bright, educated, articulate and persuasive," says Barbara Perry, author of "Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier."
Reverby says this is the first time many women have seen their class and color reflected in America's first lady
Thu Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, wasn't at the London school, but she experienced a similar sense of elation when Obama became first lady.
in her native country, she says women "are not human beings." But when Obama became the first lady, Nguyen called her niece and told her that any hard-working woman could become the first.
Vietnamese women can identify with Michelle Obama, Nguyen says.
Sue Mbaya of Nairobi, Kenya, says the first lady inspires African woman to assert themselves in their personal and professional lives.
Many African women are conditioned to be subservient, she says. They're prevented from rising to management positions in the workplace, and their families often relegate them to taking care of household tasks while sending their brothers off to school.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/first.lady/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/first.lady/index.html
Anyway, it is a long article, you may read it here. But it is possible that Michelle will inspire third world women like no other woman before her. Her impact will probably be bigger than the impact Hilary would have had, if she had become the President.
