Why I disagree with Michelle Obama

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First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher initiative has been the talk of town this past month. According to the White House’s website, the Reach Higher initiative is the “First Lady’s effort to inspire every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school, whether at a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university.”

As part of her Reach Higher Initiative, Obama delivered a speech on Sept. 29 to more than a thousand girls gathered at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. At Obama’s Power of an Educated Girl panel, accomplished guests included former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 16-year-old student activist Nurfahada and U.N. Messenger of Peace Charlize Theron. The speech Obama gave at this panel has gone viral and has received widespread recognition and praise all around the world. So, at this point, you’re probably wondering why in the world I would disagree with higher education for girls?

First off, I’d just like to clear the air and say no, I am not some misogynistic person who thinks girls shouldn’t push for higher education. As a girl, I completely agree and relate to the importance of education. So, why do I disagree with Obama? I’m not disagreeing with her Reach Higher initiative, which I think is a very worthy cause, but I am disagreeing with her reason on why girls should pursue education. In her speech, the First Lady’s most popular line that has been circulating all over social media is this,“There is no boy at this age that is cute enough or interesting enough to stop you from getting your education. Look, if I had worried with who liked me or thought I was cute when I was your age, I wouldn’t be married to the President of the United States today.”

When I first came across Obama’s speech on my Facebook newsfeed, I was all for it — until I read that last sentence. Then, my stomach dropped and I was a little angry. Obama had directly contradicted herself. She had defined herself — her awesome, insanely smart self — as the President of the United States’ wife. By saying that if she “had worried with who liked me or thought I was cute when I was your age, I wouldn’t be married to the POTUS today,” she indirectly implies that her ultimate reward for working hard and focusing on education was getting married to a successful man. With this, she demeaned her own accomplishments by defining herself as someone else’s wife and ] that her best accomplishment was marrying the President of the United States. No, First Lady, your accomplishments are far greater than that. You have become a spokesperson for women around the globe. You have become an international icon. You have developed policies and created worthy causes that have made a vast difference to society. You have the power to reach young girls everywhere and inspire them.

Obama probably did not mean to make this kind of implication with her statement. In fact, I believe that it originated from the kind of gender inequality that we all still live through today. There is this belief that gender inequality has been eliminated, but the truth of the matter is that gender inequality is still a rampant issue today. We’ve grown up in a culture where men are placed higher than women, and this “norm” has been rooted into our subconscious without us ever realizing it. That is probably the whole the thousands of people who viewed this video  merely glanced over this line and took no issue with it. It is also probably why Obama delivered this speech and made this statement without realizing what kind of implication she was making.

We define our own self. Our spouses do not define us. We are our own person. And yes, we should all pursue higher education. But not because it’s going to land us a successful man who will just “appreciate” our intelligence. We should pursue higher education because our rewards will be far greater than marrying a successful man or woman. We should pursue higher education to fight gender inequality. We should pursue higher education to break the proverbial glass ceiling for women everywhere, and to show the world that we are capable and have what it takes to be successful. We should pursue higher education not so we can marry the future President of the United States, but so we can become the next President of the United States. Because you know what? There still isn’t a female president yet. And I do believe one of us can make it. I want us all to believe that it is possible.