Michelle Obama, a great role model

Michelle Obama is an American lawyer and writer, who is the wife of the former U.S.
president Barack Obama, is the only first African American lady in her country. She
graduated from Princeton University in sociology and then she studied law at Harvard
University. After finishing her academic training, she worked as a lawyer in Sidley Austin's
office in Chicago, city manager of Chicago and community outreach worker. In her role as
first lady, Michelle always sought to support military families, help women maintain a balance
between their careers and their family, and motivate national service. In addition, she was a
promoter of healthy living seeking to combat childhood obesity, thus creating Let’s Move,
and exercise program for children, along with the U.S. Olympic team and other sports
organizations (Biography, 2019). There are many achievements hat Michelle has achieved,
therefore, I believe that she is a good role model because she has dedicated her career to
defending women and because she has proven to be a strong and intelligent woman in the
world of politics.

Michelle Obama always insisted on the importance of the feminine gender, defending the
woman against the unequal one that exists before the masculine gender, and this has
always demonstrated it in much of her speeches. affirming in one of her speeches “No
country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the
contributions of half of its citizens” (Obama, 2014). In addition, as a sign of her support for
women, she has created the Let Girls learn project that seeks to educate the 62 million girls
around the world, who do not have access to a school, demonstrating her commitment and
love for the female gender (The Irish News, 207). However, Michelle has received criticism
for blaming and criticizing women who did not support Hillary Clinton for the presidency,
because they believe that she is ignoring the progress they have made towards politics and
society. Onwuka (2018) argues that one should not seek that all women think and vote the
same, on the contrary, it is about ensuring that they can freely choose and respect their
opinions. Although it is true that women who decided not to vote for Clinton can not be
judged, Michelle is looking for the union of all women even in terms of politics in order to
create a stronger movement. In addition, she is aware of how much the position of women in
society has changed, but she also knows that it is not enough and that is why she wants to
motivate women to support each other.

Similarly, Michelle has shown that politics is not just a matter of men, that women are also
strong, successful and intelligent to handle political affairs. She has shown that she is not
only Barack Obama’s wife, she was not limited to participation in social events and
community works but was an activist during her husband’s presidency. Stauffer (2019) affirm
“Michelle Obama was an important symbol in American politics and that beyond any of her
activities as first lady, her presence provided meaning to particular groups of Americans".
Despite all their work, many critics consider that the areas where she work were shallow and
that they only did it on safe topics, without going deeper and finding areas where
opportunities were created to help people. They consider that, when addressing issues such
as healthy eating, fitness, and prioritizing the role of mother, she was wasting her position as
first lady (Politician, 2013). But Michelle Obama showed that these issues are not a waste,
that her concern about obesity in children, of maintaining a healthy life is an issue that
should be prioritized as a topic of public interest. In addition, that criticizing her for prioritizing
motherhood only shows the closed mentality of these people, because nothing will give a
country more future that the way in which children are raised, educated and cared for and
their health.

In conclusion, Michelle Obama is a person that struggle for women’s right, for this she has
created different project in benefit of women. In spite of the critic, she knows that still there
are much thing for change in the society in order to have a equality between gender. In the
same way, Michelle inspire to be a woman strong, to show your abilities and intelligence.
She was a important support for Barack Obama during his presidency because she always
showed her knowledge in politics. She not only knew few deep issues that did not help
people, but on issues of global interest. Therefore, there is not doubt that she is the best role
model that women can have.

References
https://www.biography.com/us-first-lady/michelle-obama#citation

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/07/30/remarks-first-lady-
summit-mandela-washington-fellowship-young-african-le

https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/2017/01/19/news/8-important-things-michelle-obama-
has-done-for-feminism-as-first-lady-893558/

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/michelle-obamas-myopic-view-of-women-is-
whats-wrong-with-feminism

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/
40229F40164D4D87BDCEE230BAF2A17E/S1743923X18000922a.pdf/
michelle_obama_as_a_political_symbol_race_gender_and_public_opinion_toward_the_first
_lady.pdf

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/leaning-out-michelle-obama-
100244_Page2.html