At 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Michelle Obama’s speech is being re-broadcast on CSPAN (and can also be seen on YouTube). There are two shots, a medium shot that shows her from the middle of her chest upward, and a more distant shot in which you see her entire upper body from her waist up. Especially in the more distant shot, she looks like a male body builder. It’s freakish. Am I the only one who has noticed this? Of course, in our society, it is considered unworthy or silly—beneath the level of serious intellectual discussion—to draw attention to or criticize the physical qualities and dress of public people. But as VFR readers know, I don’t agree. Nor would the Americans of past generations, who understood that the physical appearance and dress of public men has a public significance.

(See full discussion of this topic here.)

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A further note: While I have been criticizing Michelle Obama for her anti-American and anti-white attitudes and her unpleasant personality since the beginning of 2008, I have never criticized her just on her physical appearance. I’ve done so now because of the way she actually looked during her speech. If she hadn’t worn an outfit that made her look like a body builder, I wouldn’t have discussed her physique. But she did, so I did. As I mentioned above, some readers think that VFR should only deal with “high-level” topics, and not discuss such matters as a candidate’s wife’s physical appearance. They’re entitled to their opinion. But I am interested in political reality. An index of political reality is the way that a society represents itself to itself. The appearance, demeanor, and dress of public men and women is a part of that.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 26, 2008 11:32 AM | Send