I'm all for ethnic pride. It's healthy, I do it. There's a little too much projecting here going on.

For one, how does everyone know your booty is as fine (or not) as Michelle's or vice versa? Okay, I'm kidding...I don't really care.

I mean why not talk about the Obama's greatness, merit and history making ability or is that not fun, sexy and enabling?

Mostly however, talking about the First Lady's butt (and your own) seems pretentious and shallow because there's a lot more going on here besides booty. Yes, it's nice to know someone has a booty like yours but you're better then that, and the Obamas are better then that too.

Beyond that, enjoy your booty while you have it. Eventually it will get saggy and old, history however will not.

Expanding on that last post I made, I think that Michelle Obama will be a fantastic first lady. She is strong, beautiful, and very accomplished. I am so excited by this whole family that I can hardly stand myself. It will be so great to finally have someone in the White House that I can look up to again.

"Ever since slavery, it's been both vilified and fetishized as the most singular of all black female features"

Apparently the fetish continues. Just because you've decided it is now a symbol of something positive, doesn't mean you aren't still reducing Michelle to a piece of meat and a caricature of her race.

The world will be a better place when people can get past focusing of physical appearance and instead look to the ideas and actions of the person. "Not by the shape of her ass, but by the content of her character" - to paraphrase a famous expert on the subject of equality.

You're missing what the writer is feeling here:

,i>"Free at last. I never thought that I -- a black girl who came of age in the utterly anticlimactic aftermath of the civil rights movement -- would say the phrase with any real sincerity in my lifetime.",i.

And quit gettin' all mean on Joan.

Thanks catamitebastard and Oscar the Grouch -- and to whoever said I'm to blame, thank you too, because I totally am.

I have loved Erin Aubry Kaplan's writing since before I joined Salon, and I'm proud of this piece. If having a black president and first lady is going to narrow what we talk about, wow, that would be sad. But I promise it won't -- at least not on Salon.

Hey there,

I just read:

"...Apparently the fetish continues. Just because you've decided it is now a symbol of something positive, doesn't mean you aren't still reducing Michelle to a piece of meat and a caricature of her race...."

GIVE THAT LETTER WRITER A GOLD-STAR...or at least ask Kaplan to write a response to that.....

thanks in advance,

David Terry

Why do I bother clicking on Salon any more? Ms. Walsh, get a clue.

Looking at Michelle Obama I have many impressions- I am struck by her smile, her intelligence, her obvious love for her husband.

Not once has it occurred to me to try and size up her "booty factor"- its disrespectful to her, and as others have said, it seems to harken back to the ugly old stereotype from plantation days, wherein black women are to be assesed first, if not only, in terms of their desirability as a tool for sex.

It sounds ugly, small-minded and demeaning coming from anyone- I dont care if you have the "proud black woman" bona fides.

I just read "If having a black president and first lady is going to narrow what we talk about, wow, that would be sad. But I promise it won't -- at least not on Salon"

Hey there....that sounds awfully nice, of course.....but it didn't answer the first question......would you publish that article if it were written (with a few, slight changes to the original, which I could make in about five minutes) by someone like, say, ME?

I really doubt it.

sincerely,

David Terry

great story. can we now look to salon for a similar piece on how long the president-elect's cock is?

This is seriously embarrassing. All black women have nice big booties? How enlightening!

This is in such....poor taste.

Again, you're missing it.

It's not about the ASS.

It's about black women, strong black women, (arguably almost always behind the success of many black men and not a few white men) finally getting their own, on a big scale. Michelle wasn't the first black female to win an oscar in the white house, or the first black female to cure a disease in the white house. She is the first black female from the South Side bringing her own incredible ass UP on her own merits alongside a strong black man to become the first black First Lady with a GodDAMN impressive resume and YES, all the black BACK that comes with her. And seemingly, busy as she was, a helluva mom.

This is an article about JOY.

This is ALSO about...hey, you know what? She doesn't have to be Naomi Campbell to be strong, successful, and THERE NOW, 'cause not everybody fits into a size 0 dress.

I'm proud that America has elected a black man as President. As for big asses...to each their own.

Even if you assume that there is nothing inherently wrong with the article itself, consider the context. Specifically, it is published among the glaring lack of Salon articles about prominent male politician body parts. (Or, more analogous, the body parts of husbands of prominent female politicians.)

Here's a recent teaser: "The next first lady is an accomplished lawyer. But with the media focused on her clothes and family, Bamalot is starting to look a lot like Camelot." Where did I read that? Oh yes, in Salon, six days ago.

As a male who has been enriched by Rebecca Traister's commentary on gender and politics this election season, I'm sadly disappointed that Salon would publish this before it has explored the many non-anatomical qualities of this great woman.