WTF? People are up in arms over Michelle Obama's arms? GMAFB!

[Hepburn]

It's NOT like there is a lack of problems facing the USA, right? So some people have to find something to make a fuss over?

Michelle Obama's toned arms are debated

How buff is too buff? The first lady and Madonna shape the issue: It's about femininity and strength.



First Lady Michelle Obama stands tall and regal in her official portrait, a double strand of creamy pearls around her neck, her figure clad in a fitted Michael Kors dress. But there's one aspect of this seemingly benign photograph that's causing something of a commotion, and it lies in that exposed 10-inch-or-so stretch between her shoulder and elbow. The first lady is buff, and she's not afraid to show it.

Her curvy biceps have become something of a lightning rod for remarks from both sexes in a larger discussion of how much female muscle constitutes too much. While some praise Obama as a role model in a world gone obese, others say she's gone too far in displaying the fruit of her workouts. Read one online forum comment: "There is nothing uglier than manly, muscular arms on a woman. Mrs. Obama should be hiding them instead of showing them off."

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-arms29-2009mar29,0,747463.story

She's beautiful, smart, successful and totally wonderful. What the hell is wrong with some people?

:shrug:

[PassingFair]

1. Jealousy. The buff-armed monster.

I noticed her arms straight off and MARVELED
at them.

No teacher arm on OUR first lady!

[Hepburn]

3. I wish to hell my upper arms looked even half that good!

I work out with 5 pound weights...and still I have that upper arm "double chin" effect!

Yeah, it has to be jealousy! :hi:

[pansypoo53219]

33. try curls with those rubber bands.

i had awesome ares when i worked at a stained glass studio making tiffany reproductions EXACTLY like tiffany made them. hauling around big wooden blocks. soldering. eetc. moving them helps too. those rubber bands really work.

[Matariki]

38. 5 pound weights - well no wonder!

Women need to not be afraid of weights. It's a complete myth that if a woman lifts heavy weights she's going to end up like the Incredible Hulk.

Check out this excellent book for some guidance on weight training: http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Women-Goddess/dp/1583333398/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238258091&sr=8-1

[Obamanaut]

55. Here's more arm exercise info, especially tricep - a good site

Here is more information than you can shake a stick at


This link goes to muscle and exercise directory http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html click on one of the muscle groups, and you get taken to an exercise for it


This link to tricep exercises with different equipment - dumbbells, cables, bands, etc http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ArmWt.html#anchor122387


This is the link to the basic site, which if one were to navigate the entire thing could take hours
http://www.exrx.net/

[Dinger]

62. If I Had Arms Like That, I'd Be Sleeveless Year Round!

I'm not jealous, more like envious.

[dem629]

2. How did they miss that weird chin? Why focus on the arms?

[Hepburn]

4. Oh, and she has huge feet....

...never mind her intelligence and success!

How many people would check out a man's upper arms and make them into some controversy?

This sooooooooo stupid ~~ ignore her mind and bitch about her being too toned.

:eyes:

[dem629]

7. They probably are. Have you seen her hind quarters and legs?

There's nothing worse than a bigfoot woman.

[Hepburn]

10. Tell me about how bad big-footed women are...

...I wear a size 11 shoe ~~ but then I am 5' 10-1/2" tall! :hi:

[Captain Hilts]

23. Men's arms aren't on display. Their clothes cover them up whereas women's clothes...

are decoration.

[AllieB]

48. Of course she's got huge feet. She's 6 feet tall.

Maybe she should have bound her feet like the old Chinese practice. Sheesh. :eyes:

[TahitiNut]

5. EEEeeek!! SKIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:hide:

[Hepburn]

12. OMG........

.....the woman has ARMS and they are covered by SKIN!!!!!

Run.....:scared:

[Captain Hilts]

6. They look great, but no one expected bare arms at the Not the State of the Union Speech.

It seemed informal.

Otherwise, they look great.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. Jacquelyn Kennedy had bare arms at a State of the Union speech too.

[firedupdem]

17. but those arms weren't brown.

:eyes:

[Hepburn]

19. Oh, yeah, excellent point....

...check list for bigots:

White female arms, OK

Brown female arms, OMG.............PROTEST!!!

I forgot about the color! :hi:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

53. So true.......

[Captain Hilts]

22. Her sleeveless dresses nearly always had jackets. Few women go sleeveless in January in DC. nt

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. The point is, Jackie Kennedy didn't wear a jacket at the State of the Union, even if

she had one with her.

[Captain Hilts]

32. I don't remember that. Anyway, it's been a long time since DC has seen it.

I love purple on MO.

I've read "I Was Jaqueline Kennedy's Dress Designer" and it's actually pretty interesting, though it is not by Correige, whose name I cannot spell, but is most closely associated with her.

I had some brushes with JBK in Newport in the sixties. And the kids.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

51. lol! I personally don't remember her wearing the dress but there were a few

photos put up on the Internet showing it after Michelle wore her sleeveless dress. I had just turned 12 when JFK was assassinated.

[Captain Hilts]

54. I'd turned 4, but I remember it well. She wore sleeveless a LOT, but I doubt...

she wore them to the SoTU speech.

Overall, I think MO's getting pretty good press. I LOVE her comment that everybody in the family was going to pull weeds in the garden "whether they like it or not." I just love that quotation.

Sending her on the tours of demoralized federal agencies was a great idea.

[MgtPA]

57. But Jackie did wear sleeveless to the '63 SoTU speech ...

"First Lady Jackie Kennedy watches President Kennedy deliver the State of the Union address. Among those watching with her is her mother, Janet Auchincloss, and her sister, Princess Lee Radziwill."

?size=67&uid={61BCCF17-14BF-4950-8DA2-24D6870BC2AC}

[Captain Hilts]

59. I said I didn't remember specifically, but that it hasn't been seen in a LONG time...

That's a really interesting picture. They sure have their game faces on.

I will note, however, the Corbis site has horrifically inaccurate captions. They get dates wrong by decades frequently in the presidential series on their site that I've been through. Really bad. This site is an insomniac's best friend.

But, even here, sleeveless just seems out of place at the SOTU. Here in DC, you just don't see it in January unless at a ball of some kind.

It's great that folks can talk about this rather than grimmer topics - that's progress I can believe in!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

58. Here's a photo of her wearing a sleeveless dress at JFK's SOTU.

?size=67&uid={61BCCF17-14BF-4950-8DA2-24D6870BC2AC}

Gosh, was she beautiful.

[blondeatlast]

49. Thank you, Anna Wintour.

:eyes:

[AlCzervik]

8. i would be thrilled if my arms looked half as good as hers, he looks fabulous.

her skin is gorgeous.

[Hepburn]

14. Yep...

...you and me both! :hi:

[Pool Hall Ace]

9. If these people can't take the sight of Mrs. Obama's arms, then they

need to take their eyes off of them and go find the secret vault that has Mr. President's birth certificate. :eyes:

[Hepburn]

13. Duzy!!!!!

LMBO....:rofl:

Can someone help? I am not sure on how to nominate this reply for a Duzy! TIA!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

15. IMHO she looks great. That said, wearing sleeveless dresses in winter seems weird to me

no matter who's wearing them.

[Captain Hilts]

24. Not many at night in January in DC. nt

[Dollface]

26. She is near the age when a woman's body temp fluctuates randomly. That explains her Cardigans too.

Or possibly she is too broad shouldered for many sleeved garments to fit comfortably. That being said, If my arms looked that good I'd leave them out too.

[Captain Hilts]

35. They look fine. Most women's clothes don't have sleeves or armholes wide enough...

for women that work out.

Katharine Hepburn said it was important to have your clothes made by a man's tailor so that they would be made better and you'd have enough room in the arms.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

52. In my life, living just north of NYC (and growing up in the city), except for

formal events and the gym, I have NEVER in person seen a woman wear a sleeveless dress in all of my 57 years during the winter. I stated my age, and even when perimenopausal and first menopausal, I was never so hot that I had to wear sleeveless in the winter, and I am very much overweight.

As to the comfort? There are many comfortable sleeved styles one can wear that are flattering. One look that would be magnificent on her would be the dolman sleeve.

[pnwmom]

63. It's actually common in the winter in NYC nowadays.

I even remember reading an article about this in the newspaper last year. A lot of office buildings are overheated, so women dress like it's summer year around. And, yes, there's that menopause thing too.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

66. I guess it hasn't caught up to the "burbs" yet.

[Captain Hilts]

68. DC is a fairly conservative town when it comes to clothes. Always has been. nt

[PatSeg]

46. Same here

I think she looks great as well, but it seems sleeveless is for summer or formal evening wear. I guess it is style I just find impractical.

[marmar]

16. The fact that this even merits a newspaper story shows Puritanical idiocy of America.....

..... somewhere in France, more enlightened people are laughing their asses off over hot bread and beaujolais nouveau.

[Hepburn]

20. I wonder what the reaction would have been if she had been wearing...

...a low cut dress?

:shrug:

[Hepburn]

18. Those arms are GORGEOUS!

[acmavm]

21. The American Taliban. Next they'll demand she wear a burqua and

walk three steps behind her husband (like Laura used to do).

[Hepburn]

28. Maybe that burqua could have slits on the upper sides so she could...

...once in awhile stick out one of her toned arms?

:evilgrin:

[acmavm]

31. Just to piss of repubics? Sounds like a plan to me. With all the crap to

worry about today, I just can't find it in myself to take this issue with anything but a grain of salt. Maybe that's wrong because idiots and buffoons are trying (and yes, they are trying) to dictate a woman's clothing and what is acceptable and what isn't. But right now I just read this shit and laugh.

[lunatica]

27. Michelle is a trend setter which makes the fashion slaves very nervous

She always surprises with her choices and some people can't stand that. The unspoken law of fashion is that you have to wait till the Big Designers tell you what to wear. And you must choose a look and never, ever deviate from it. If you live in Washington DC you must wear the frumpiest two piece suits available. Don't you ever wear a dress! Big no-no in DC.

[Hepburn]

29. Also...let's face it:

Some women could NEVER wear anything sleeveless and that is the real problem ~~ jealousy.

[blaze]

30. "manly, muscular arms..."????

:rofl:

I wonder what the arms on that poster look like.

On second thought.... I'm already regretting that visual.

Sorry.

:hi:

[Captain Hilts]

34. Michelle Obama is not only physically big, she's not afraid to exhibit physical strength, and ...

a lot of folks feel uncomfortable with it. The country hasn't seen a physically strong first lady since they last saw Eleanor holding up Franklin. So, it's been a while.

As a result of her height - six feet - and size, a prominent Republican senator used to refer to her as "that Amazon."

With the exception of ER, all our first ladies have not been so big or so obviously physically strong.

Learn to suck on it and like it folks!

[blaze]

36. But her arms don't look manly at all!

These look manly to me: http://www.female-bodybuilders.org/coralie-marchisio.php

But I get your point.

[Captain Hilts]

37. No, they don't look manly at all. They look great. They fit the rest of her great. nt

[blaze]

39. Agreed!! :) n/t

[recoveringrepublican]

40. WTF is wrong with people? "manly?". When I want to skip the gym I think of MO arms and GO!

I love them! I think she looks healthy. I'm about 15 years younger and would love her definition. We can't all be waifs, not that there is anything wrong with that, just that we can't all be that!

Also, about the SOTU, who cares. I think we get too caught up in such silly things. Which is why the big matters get thrown to the wayside. Critics of such things usually seem to be people that want to keep others "in their place".

[Captain Hilts]

42. Popular culture is dominated by really, REALLY skinny women. She looks great. Looks real. nt

[Matariki]

41. WHO'S DEBATING HER ARMS??? Could it be the author of the article - with herself?

Notice how the article pretends to be reporting on 'the debate' in a flimsy attempt to gossip about Michelle Obama and her looks?

And how the writer attempts to invoke a 'crowd consensus' for her gossip - as if she weren't responsible for it?

What bullshit. Does she cite any articles backing up this 'debate', apart from some unnamed 'online forum'? No. She doesn't.

[lonestarnot]

43. What, she didn't shave?

[Jeep789]

44. If only she looked more like Coulter

:rofl:

[JitterbugPerfume]

45. A strong , beautiful and intelligent black woman?

:scared:

[Hepburn]

47. Betting that is the exact problem! n/t

[sutz12]

50. Are these the same folks that were drooling over Caribou Barbie?

Geez. Get a fricken' life. Michele is a big, gorgeous black woman with smarts and some kick ass values that the average Repuke only dreams of having.

[Obamanaut]

56. The right to bare arms. If ya got 'em, flaunt 'em. nt

[ismnotwasm]

60. I'm going back to the gym

I'm jealous and inspired, she has beautiful arms.

And everything else. She's also a brilliant, shining light in a political world that takes woman apart piece by piece. Arms, butt, legs, face, stomach, breasts.

They get to the mind, thoughts, works, political platform or ideology eventually, as an afterthought.

(They look like runner or swimmers arms to me with light weight training)

[LWolf]

61. WTF

:eyes:

Can the nation get any more shallow?

[TankLV]

64. It's funny, isn't it! They'd complain if she wore blue, or they'd complain...

So let's just shorten it to: "they complain"...

they would do it just because shes BREATHING...

I watch a lot of SciFi and Disney and TCM...it's healthier...

[NorthernSpy]

65. too tall, too short, too skinny, too fat, too this, too that...

:eyes:


Sheesh.

[XemaSab]

67. I think there are a lot of bigots out there unhappy with the allure of the BROWN sugar

The white sugar doesn't seem nearly as threatening.