Reflections on Michelle Obama’s Booty and I
We skipped over this at Proper Talks last week because we really didn’t feel like joining a mundane conversation about the future first lady’s backside, but now that the writer of that controversial Salon article is speaking out, and attempting to justify her opinion, I can’t help but to butt in.
It’s not the fact that Erin Kaplan had the audacity to talk about Michelle Obama’s butt that gives me reason to pause. I’m more concerned with the fact that Kaplan has now decided to shed her insecurities regarding her own rear, simply because that other butt was put into the White House by way of her husband’s election. She says the article is about:
a flesh-and-blood physical representation and affirmation that black women, and black people, have never, ever had before. It was about the American social register being turned upside down and blacks being suddenly at the top of the page instead of stuck at the bottom, or stuck wherever people want us stuck
But I beg to differ. When I read this and Kaplan’s other explainations, I get the sense that she finally decided to be proud of her own backside simply because America [read: white folk] officially gave the stamp of approval to Michelle’s behind. Now that it’s literally in the White House, it’s suddenly acceptable, and that’s disheartening.
I agree that we should be proud of how the Obama’s have elevated the national black image, but the context in which Kaplan extols that image is marked by a mainstream, or white, qualifier that shouldn’t be there. She seems to seek mainstream approval, rather than reject its unqualified hold on the way black folk look at themselves.
[More]
She writes:
Thanks to Michelle, looking professional and provocative in a distinctly black way will become not only acceptable but also part of a whole presidential look that’s more, well, inclusive. Now we’ll all be able to wear leggings to board meetings; we’ll sport pencil skirts sans the long jackets meant to cover the offending rear at big conferences where we have to make a good impression.
Personally, I accepted my black behind a long time ago. I never felt inclined to cover my “offending rear” mainly because I never thought of it as offensive. The rest of the world may not have appreciated what my friends have dubbed the “Kiaaaaana booty” but I always assumed that the people that most looked like me did.
Way to dump all black folk in a box, I know, but it’s the truth I’ve witnessed.
From Zora-Neale to Sir-Mix-A-Lot, I’ve always marveled at what I saw was my community’s love of the ass. True, there have been plenty of times, Sir-Mix-A-Lot included, when I’ve felt exploited and objectified because the size of my rear, but I never doubted its beauty. It has never been a source of shame or embarrassment. I thought my people openly embraced Ms. Fat Booty whose “ass was so fat you could see if from the front.” But now, Kaplan’s piece says otherwise.
Kaplan implies that Michelle Obama marks the beginning of black beauty, when in fact a plethora of others (shout out to the late James Brown) told us black is beautiful a long time ago. I don’t really think it’s necessary to applaud the fact that everyone else has finally caught on, or so we assume. I’d argue that Michelle’s face plastered all over magazine covers isn’t a declaration of black beauty, but rather a ploy to sell more copies, but that’s a whole other issue.
Now that the Obamas’ supposedly represent the new “post racial” face of America many black folk are openly embracing typical signifiers of blackness, in this case the ass, as if we had no reason to be, and never were, proud of our distinct black features in a pre-Obama era.
People have been shouting that “black is back” when ‘round my parts it never went anywhere. Kaplan’s article implies she needed everyone else’s approval for that message to show up in her own neck of the woods.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t deepen the conversation about race and sex in America as Kaplan hoped it would. It only highlights the deep shame many black women have unnecessarily had regarding their so-called nappy hair, big lips, round hips, and now once again, our big black asses – in a typical white world.
Tags: Blacks, Body Image, Erin Kaplan, Jame Brown, Media, Michelle Obama, Michelle Obama's Butt, Salon, Sir-Mix-A-Lot, Whites, Zora Neale Hurston
November 25th, 2008 at 02:40
It’s a funny thing about black women who have booty and those who don’t. The ladies with booty (Kiana, Angela lol) seem to not speak about or talk about how much booty they have until someone says, dayum girl!! You got a big ol’ booty!! Now the ladies with no assatol, always seem to be talkin about ass, how much they don’t have, how much that girl needs to lose hers, and what they’re gonna do to get ass when they get money. I said all that to ask; Does this Kaplan lady have a Kiaaaaaana booty? Cause if she doesn’t, it would further explain her lil bit of hating on Michelle’s bottom (which Obama has tapped before walking on stage) and how Michelle carries herself…with all that ass, so Kiana, imma need an answer. Please, and thank you.
November 25th, 2008 at 02:50
Ameer you’re funny but she’s actually not hating on Michelle’s booty, she’s finally embracing it and her own. I just don’t like the fact that she’s now okay with it because the media, or the mainstream, has supposedly accepted it or elected into office by way of her husband. p.s. Angela is going to get you for throwing her booty in the mix!
November 25th, 2008 at 03:23
LOL! Ameer! I’m def gonna need you to make your point without using my or Kiana’s booties as reference! Why not use Beyonce, or Trina, or one of the other plethora of asses out there on display?? I guess not until this instant did I understand the complete controversy of this issue. Nobody wants their ass to be the subject of conversation when they have so much else to offer. It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, because I’m not, it’s just that somebody else wasting word count and pseudo-intellectual effort on an ass (not you on mine, but Kaplan on Michelle’s) is pretty ridiculous.
I still think there was a better, more direct way for Kaplan to package the discussion that she was trying to have about the future first lady’s rump, and I’m not sure why she copped out of explaining some of her most loaded claims. She briefly mentioned the historical significance of the black ass and randomly put up a pic of Venus Hottentot in her “defense” blog post without giving any context in her actual response. Had she done a better job defending her stance that historically the black ass has been vilified then the whole article would be a non-issue.
November 25th, 2008 at 09:47
Angela, I agree with you wishing Kaplan would have given more historical context. Also I think your wanting Ameer to mention b or trina instead of us highlights another issue with her article. In it she attempts to unite the “party girls” or the so called “hos” (I’m not saying neither women are hos)with the likes of Michelle and I feel like people resent that. Typically conversations about the butt have only focused on one type of black female. Now Kaplan is talking about the behind of another type of black woman, who we are use to protecting and only talking about behind doors, in front of everybody and that makes people uncomfortable.
November 25th, 2008 at 16:01
That ish was hilarious, Ameer…and it’s sad that that woman can’t love herself fully without a green light from other people. Damn shame.
November 25th, 2008 at 23:19
So she’s pretty much saying, you don’t have to party when you have ass…you can also be the future presidents wife, with cake. Wow…lol
November 28th, 2008 at 02:01
I never noticed Michelle’s butt before, so I couldn’t relate to Kaplan’s article. But what I could relate to was the idea behind it: Michelle’s blatant blackness is empowering for many black women. If it’s not her butt, then it’s her press-and-curl, or her budget wardrobe, or her “strong black woman” attitude that’s been making black women around the nation feel great(!) about being black. Finally, we have a lady – who’s in one of the highest positions of power that a black person has ever been in – prove that it’s OK to be a sista who’s not rocking a weave or so light that she can pass the paper bag test. And she can pull a charming, successful black man who loves her?! It’s a dream come true.
Personally, if I were getting paid to write opinion articles about Michelle, I’d write about how her pretty brown skin empowered me and even validated that being brown is cool. That’s not to say that I haven’t been proud of being black before – it’s just that finally, America is embracing what I’ve been embracing for so long.
You can’t be that hard on Kaplan. Living as a minority that’s seldom included in the list of what’s beautiful, it’s difficult to fully love being black for many women. There’s simply too many messages saying to reject our blackness. So if Michelle’s butt made Kaplan appreciate her own, then great. Because like I said, I know that Michelle’s brown skin made me feel a bit more secure in being a brown-skinned lady myself.
November 29th, 2008 at 14:45
@ Amber- Great response! Kiana and I had some disagreement about the article, good disagreement, of course. I agree with you that Kaplan was trying to express a feeling of pride that a lot of us share. I think she just needed to do a bit more rhetorical work to make the butt angle work for her article.
November 29th, 2008 at 16:18
This is really interesting – both the article and the comments that it has spurred. I do think it’s shameful that black women can’t love and appreciate their nappy hair, big lips and voluptuous bums. While I am over the moon that Barack Obama was elected and I feel that Michelle will make an excellent First Lady with the grace and confidence that she exudes, I don’t think it makes me “prouder” to be a Black woman. Just happy to see that other people are recognizing that we are a force to be reckoned with. Good post Kiana!
And God knows I know how it feels for your behind to receive more attention than you do!
December 4th, 2008 at 10:05
[...] at the waist is flattering, but the layering on the hips is a no-no. We here at Propertalks are done discussing Michelle’s body, but I will say that I am rather er, ample on the bottom half and those [...]
January 3rd, 2010 at 06:39
I love Michelle Obama! She is so intelligent, graceful, stern when she needs to be and she has a wonderful sense of humor.