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October 12, 2008 10:26:33 AM CDT

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Can Michelle Defy Stereotypes?

Posted Jul 20, 08 10:16 AM CDT in Politics,  Arts & Living,  Opinion 

(Newser) – It's no wonder Michelle Obama is being criticized from all sides: She's an outspoken, successful black woman, writes Sophia A. Nelson in the Washington Post. "This society can't even see a woman like Michelle Obama. All it sees is a black woman and attaches stereotypes," a prominent female African-American journalist tells Nelson. Society sees categories: the hip-hop vixen, the capable Aunt Jemima, and the "angry black woman."

Although more black women are finding success, it often comes at personal expense—professional black women are five times more likely to be single at age 40 than their white counterparts. Obama introduces the "revolutionary" idea that a black woman can love her career, her family, and her country, writes Nelson: "And our hope is that if Michelle Obama becomes first lady, the revolution will come to us at last."

Source Washington Post

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Michelle Obama, right, wife of of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, walks on stage with Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, Thursday, July 17, 2008.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, talks to well-wishers after stepping off a plane at Centennial Airport in Centennial, Colo., Wednesday, July 16, 2008.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
This illustration provided by The New Yorker magazine, the cover of the July 21, 2008 issue by artist Barry Blitt, was called "tasteless and offensive" by Barack Obama's campaign.   (AP Photo/New Yorker)
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Michelle Obama  • African-Americans  • racial inequality  • black women  • stereotypes  • glass ceiling


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