White women aren't always derided for having a black ass - I've been complimented on my "black girl's butt" more than once. And I've noticed that whenever I'm hit on by total strangers, they're black. Maybe it's the butt?

Slightly more seriously, I'll be glad to see Michelle Obama setting the fashion trends for the next 4 (and I hope 8) years. If her choices inspire some butt-friendly designs to hit the knockoff racks, my life gets a lot easier. One more reason to be happy about the election!

That is one fantastic voile fabric.

Michelle Obama's behind has absolutely no bearing on her being First Lady, First Mom, First Wife, or First Lawyer, for that matter. I don't pay Salon to read garbage I could find free on PerezHilton.

Oh, and there's a typo in the photo caption. I think you mean "crowd," not "crowed."

Sheesh. Please rise to the occasion of this country finally electing a man (and family) of substance.

When will Ms. Kaplan counter, "Butt, butt, butt, I...."

With the talk about Michelle's booty. Amongst the sistas we do remark that Michelle has a big ole butt, but not sure it deserves a home page article on salon.com. Does this mean we are officially out of stuph to talk about re the Obamas?

Seeing that beautiful yellow fabric from catamitebastard's linky, made me think that Michelle would look fabulous in a gold gown for the Inauguration Ball. I hope she picks something with color, I must have been the only one in Illinois that liked the Election Rally dress.

Also that fabric site has a delightful typo in the description for this pink fabric, http://afrofabric.com/voile-lace/double-tunji/5yards-fucksciapink-voile-lace.html

...Marla Gibbs get a cabinet position. Any cabinet position. But I'm leaning towards Health and Human Services for her...

I share the belief with many that Michelle Obama in the White House is a blessing on this country for any number of reasons, but her "back" is surely the least of them.

How would you feel if you and your family had achieved a historic victory based on integrity and intelligence, and someone's response to that was to fete you with an ode to your ASS? My best guess is: mortified.

Leave her alone.

Leave her clothes alone.

Leave her hair alone.

Leave her thighs alone.

Leave her butt alone.

HER BODY DOES NOT BELONG TO AMERICA.

Dammit.

I feel rather alone in this painful frustration.

Leave her the crap alone, no offense to you, Erin.

She's not here to make us feel better about ourselves.

If this was anyplace but here, we'd be hearing about how a story about Michelle Obama's backside reduced an intelligent, accomplished woman to a caricature about the derriere's of black women.

And although I often roll my eyes, I'd be with them on this one. Ms. Kaplan, we share in your delight of seeing a first family that resembles you more than it resembles the rest of the first families, but bottoms are probably not the best way to express it.

And Joan, you're really the one that deserves the haranguing here. Between this topic and Camille Paglia's self-absorbed, self-contradictory blather, I've already had enough this week. I'm soon going to start asking you to pay me to read Salon.

Well, I dunno. When I'M elected LOTFW, I expect a lot of commentary on my ass!

Maybe what's being missed here...is that we are really celebrating the passage of a stereotype (uberprogressively) past a type to just...'that'.

(I have to confess, I was at a massive [late] Guy Fawkes celebration Saturday night, and we talked about Michelle's ass -- and there were black women present -- and they were saying exactly the same thing; along with some great political insight into the roles of black women in American politics and culture. And yeah, it included a lot of great Oregon Pinot Noir).

And we burned skinny-assed palin effigies..

...I wonder, would Salon have run it?

I had no idea how many up-tight attitudes towards talking about anything of a sexually based nature in terms of the first lady, president, or any other political figure still abound.

I found the piece to be highly amusing, funny and informative. So what if the author talks about Michelle’s butt and what it may it may not symbolize? I liked that Kaplan discussed the nuances of race and body image in terms of American culture, history, fashion and the media, and found nothing degrading or insulting about it at all.

It’s not as if her discussion of Michelle Obama was somehow limited to judging her from her derriere alone; far from it. Why the outrage? What’s so wrong about looking at body image, sex and how this works in terms of a presidency enmeshed in the media age? After all, Barak Obama shares a strong physical presence, and was viewed as sexually attractive by many supporters, including myself and many of my male and female friends. Though this is not why I ultimately support or do not support a candidate, it is a factor in the decisions of many, and seems a fair topic for discussion. Candidates from Palin to JFK have been 'sexualized' in peoples minds for decades; why we can't speak about such things in an open, adult manner demonstrates how uncomfortable we are as a society with our bodies and sex in general.

I would like to thank Salon for an excellent contribution, one that rises above the media ‘fashion talk’ of recent weeks.

Barbara Bush has a fat ass, so did Mamie Eisenhower

Dammit! It is not a fat ass. There is a huge difference. I am a white man, and my girlfriend is a white woman, but she has a "ghetto booty". Trust me, there is nothing fat about it. It is large and round, but it is mostly muscle. Fat tends to be shapeless and flabby. This sort of "booty" is generally nice and firm. I don't wish to speculate on what the first lady elect's booty feels like, but the sort of booty described here is not a fat ass by any means.

That being said, I really came into this article not wanting to like it. While I feel it is beyond the lines of taste in spots, I can completely understand the writers feelings. Congrats!