I don't agree with everything he said.

However I find it an interesting compliment/contrast to this article about Michelle Obama's ass.

Let. It. GO.

So why is the size of Michelle Obama's ass worthy of comment, much less a lead Salon article? As others mentioned, Barbara Bush had a big butt that Kaplan could have been getting giddy about. Or is there a double standard here? Big white women are just fat asses while big black women have a great booty.

Congratulations, Salon. You have cheapened the race debate.

Thank you AKASmith, you have hit the nail on the head.

...that the first noteworthy thing the author could think of to have in common with Michele Obama was the size of her ass.

Has-a vs. is-a?

Did Salon PAY for this racist/sexist drivel?

I believe that you have SCOOPED Larry Flynt on this story!

Of course, he has to wait for pictures.

If you mean that both articles are cheap, lazy, and reductive, you're right.

But in addition to my relatively subjective judgment of taste, I would argue from a more objective point of view that treating the body or a part of the body of a ruler as "symbolic" in whatever way, as this author does (and as many of her defenders in this comments area do), is some seriously flawed thinking.

Leave sex out of it, and imagine that someone had written an article saying that Michelle Obama's facial features were symbolic of an authentic, naturally aristocratic strain in the African genetic pool, and isn't that wonderful.

Wouldn't this alone be extremely worrisome and objectionable?

That kind of talk is very easy, and it sounds fun and unserious...but to see a relatively long piece in an online magazine as prominent as Salon that argues this way...I dunno, it just seems like a big callous step away from democratic (lower-case "d") thinking.

Yes, the Obamas are celebrities--McCain said it, and the point struck because on some level it's true. (I say this as a passionate Obama supporter--I would not have said it three weeks ago.)

But to try to reclaim their celebrity as a virtue, now that Barack has won? Is that really what "black culture" has to offer? Is that what you're arguing?

Think first, then write.

...and by whom is a large derriere considered "a clear signifier of blackness"? What is this nonsense about large butts being "both vilified and fetishized as the most singular of all black female features... the thing that marked black women as uncouth and not quite ready for civilization"? Or the statement that black women are "considered the source" of protruding hineys?

This is one of the stupidest opinion pieces I have ever read, based on highly questionable premises! I don't care if the author is a big-assed Black woman herself and her comments are suppose to be humorous; she's not funny and her statements, presented as facts, are ludicrous.

I am not a youngster, by any means, but I have never heard of any of the author's s black butt stereotypes. As a "gluteally endowed" (how clever - not!) woman, I've been told I have an "apple butt" but never a "black butt". The only one's who have derided me for my tush size are my skinny sisters and, we all know, they're just jealous!

I never know whether Salon's articles are written by black or white people unless they have an video to accompany them. I don't really care...

Me neither.

In my entire life, I have never had a conversation with anyone about black women's butts. Not once.

Now this is where we differ. I have to admit to having participated in several conferences on the subject. In fact only this morning my wife was suggesting that I should kiss mi culo negro.

However, this morning I went to the grocery store and standing in line in front of me was a slender black woman. I found myself looking at her BUTT and noticed that she really didn't have one. Unbidden to my mind came the thought, "Poor thing. She just has no BUTT at all.

Now we are back in sync. I went shopping in Wal-Mart this morning and had an identical experience. I don't know what came over me to make me look at a woman's butt, something I would never normally consider, but it happened.

It reminded me of that World War II ditty that goes:

Hitler had only got one ball

Goering had two but very small,

Himmler was very sim'lar,

But Goebbels had no balls at all.

And, you know, I really felt for her, and now everywhere that I go I am checking out women's rears, black, white, latino, all of them, and feeling so sorry for the emasculated ones who don't have good womanly buttocks.

Fortunately there aren't many around here, but still when you do spot one, it is a... bummer.

to body parts because of someone else's lack of a healthy self-image. She is someone's wife, someone's daughter, someone's mother, not only is this disrespectful to her, it is disrespectful to them. This is not our best friend, back off people and show her a little respect and courtesy. Everything that pops into your head doesn't have to be uttered/written in public. As my Mother would say: You are lacking in home training.

Yes, she's written about Jennifer Lopez's butt. She's written about her own butt. Butts matter.

As a calipigynous (sp?) white woman, I've been rejoicing over Michelle Obama's body, which judging by her inauguration-night dress, she evidently loves. That stature! Those arms! That butt!

Yes, that butt. She didn't wear a dress that disguised it, and it's worth talking about. Laughing about. Being thrilled about.

I loved this story; I read it with a big smile and at times laughed out loud. We talk about women's figures in this culture all the time. It's about time we got to celebrate one we love. Out loud.

Oh, and by the way, Obama's got a great butt, too. It's just hard to see it in a suit.