As a white guy who suffers from the gotnoass disease, let me go on board as pointing out there are white women with soul sister butts.

I know I am married to one.

She passed it down to our daughter.

To wit, a Escalade pulled next to our daughter and friends in Buckhead (Atlanta) one day.

Guy leans out the window, "All you white women are fine, but you (my daughter) are some kinda fine."

It was the butt.

Give it up Erin Aubry.

Still scratching my head on this one.

Sorry you had a poor body image. I think you should find acceptance and pride within yourself, not foist it off on Michelle Obama.

By the way, though her physique is certainly feminine, there is nothing unusual or even extreme about her backside and the fact that it's a matter of public debate on the internet really is sad.

There are innumerably more aspects and opinions about Michele Obama that I'd love to hear opinions about, things that might actually matter.

You can count me among those who read the article and cringed over the concept, content and finally the credibility of the author.

Really, that's the best you could do?

You get a big eye roll on that one.

... and so are all the rest of us, of any race. But I applaud Ms. Kaplan for celebrating the gluteal magnificence with which she, Ms. Obama and I are all blessed.

I'm usually the last person to be confused about why it's "ok" for black youths to call each other niggaz on the city bus (i.e., I feel I can parse and hold in my head the simultaneous thought that it's actually not okay, yet that it isn't okay for white people to do so; moreover that it's not really an overwhelming concern what black kids call each other in light of larger societal problems).

I'm also certain I grasp why it was not okay that Fox News referred to Michelle as Barack's "baby mama" because it surely was intended to be denigrating and came from an institution that is part of a wider system of oppression.

But come on! This just doesn't feel cool.

I admit I have a pretty good sized crush on the incoming First Lady and perhaps this is just a reaction from that place. But this is annoying. And actually it's not because of Ms. Kaplan's article, which is essentially harmless.

We're all up in a shit fit when Fox News casually throws around "Obama's baby mama." But we smile and wink when the liberal press does it? "Obama's baby mama" actually has a certain lyric cadence, and someone would have used it eventually —as noted by the fact there's a "feminist blogger" Ms. Kaplan links to in her story. Let's be realistic, it would have come up for good or ill during the campaign and/or presidency that follows, eventually. I think it's more about Salon's choices than the article per se. Salon, this is annoying.

This is a blaring headline, this was the lead in my inbox on the salon newsletter. This is like the liberal press rubbing noses in it: Look at us! We have an irreverent sense of familiarity with the President and his family! With black people in general! We can do this because we found a black writer to write it!

I say this as a liberal. I've occasionally slipped into "street speak" to make an ironic point either among friends or online (just the other day I offhandedly wrote "I call him Barack because we tight"). I think everyone does it and I don't know if I always know when it's a problem and when it's not. But don't sit there and tell me that Fox=bad yet Salon=good.

Enough said.

I read Salon daily for the wit, wisdom, and insight I don't find in so many other media outlets. I am grateful for the humor as well as the thoughtful journalism. This morning, I saw the article on Michelle Obama's backside and, for a moment, thought someone was joking. You actually wasted space on the first lady-elect's ass? Not only that, but I also find it upsetting for another reason. The Obamas are stepping into the most high profile position in the world. They will all be put under a microscope for everything from their behavior to choices in clothing. I am surprised Salon would jump on the tabloid bandwagon and start in with a headline on Mrs. Obama's rear.

Gee, the first things I noticed about her were that she had a bit smile, was intelligent, listened well, and was fiercely protective of her family.

I don't agree with the poster who wrote that "women are not sexual objects," so that you couldn't write ridiculous articels like this one. The reason you don't write such drivel is that it's simply is absurd - we just had a history-writing election, replacing a privileged white anti-science incompetent with a from-the-poor-side-of-town black intelligent law school professor.

She - the First Lady - might become a fashion icon, if she chooses; she has the visibility. Mrs. Kennedy, with the weird voice and incredible style, did so; none since her have, although Mrs. Reagan would have liked to.

Intellectually, I know all the stuff that Erin quotes and paraphrases in the article. But her piece still leaves me feeling utterly gross. I can barely write this note! Dare I say that it is so superficial and truly insulting to be judging Michelle's "authenticity" by her rear end. I hear African American women do this to each other all the time, and I just recoil in disgust; indeed, the only time I feel such heightened awareness about my rear-end is when I am among African American women. The problem here is not the ideas we've inherited vis-a-vis Hottentot Venus or the Sir Mix-A-Lots of the world. White people aren't judging Michelle based on the size of her ass. If they are going to project any racist notions onto her body, the entire package is a problem, ass is not really that significant. The real problem is that persons like Erin insist on using the size of their ass as some kind of credential, ticket or bargaining chip, and who believe they have the right and duty to impose those racist ideas on other black women, as if that sharing a racial group makes them somehow better adjudicators. Black women all over the world take the size of their backsides for granted; it is what it is. It is only in the US where you hear this kind of fixated discussion about who's got a "black butt" and who doesn't. Its not as if Black women don't have enough to deal with, now we are reminded that Michelle's in the in-group because she's got a black butt. I mean, how much lower can this discourse sink? Don't try to show me, either.