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How Michelle Obama subverted respectability politics with a ponytail
Christian Century ^ | 2/22/2018 | Brittney Cooper

Posted on 02/23/2018 12:43:10 PM PST by simpson96

Respectability politics died the day Michelle Obama showed up at her last official engagement as First Lady with a thrown-together ponytail-bun combination and a facial expression fit for a funeral. She looked flawless as always. She also looked fed up and ready to go. Respectability politics—the belief that black people can overcome many of the everyday, acute impacts of racism by dressing properly and having education and social comportment—is, first and foremost, performed as a kind of sartorial prerogative. What I mean is that your fashion choices are subject to great scrutiny.

(snip)

So when I saw her hair on her last day, it was clear that she had not spent hours in a stylist’s chair getting her ’do done just right. Presumably, she would have wanted to be a fashion stunner for her final formal public appearance. Instead, this bona fide fashion icon showed up to the inauguration of Donald Trump with a quick and convenient, on-the-go ’do, and what looked like a good church dress she had pulled from the closet. Certainly, she may simply have been gracious in letting Melania have her moment. But there was also something about the refusal to perform the public standard—a standard that Mrs. Obama had herself set—that marked an unceremonious ending.

Her hair was a signal to the world that what we were about to witness was some bullshit. She knew it. We knew it. “Do y’all see this shit?” that hair asked of all of us who were watching

(Excerpt) Read more at christiancentury.org ...


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1 posted on 02/23/2018 12:43:11 PM PST by simpson96
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To: simpson96
Wretch!!! "...bona fide fashion icon..."? Barf!!! Urp!!!
2 posted on 02/23/2018 12:46:36 PM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: simpson96

This article is utter drek written by a moron who thinks fashion is a way to oppress the black woman.


3 posted on 02/23/2018 12:53:02 PM PST by Skywise
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To: simpson96
Michelle Pony Tail?

That beast doesn't have a pony tail..a hippo, rhino, elephant, T-Rex tail perhaps...but not a pony tail.

4 posted on 02/23/2018 12:54:01 PM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: simpson96

She is butt ugly inside and out.


5 posted on 02/23/2018 12:56:53 PM PST by dainbramaged (Get out of my country now)
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To: simpson96
She looked flawless as always.

LOL!

6 posted on 02/23/2018 12:57:15 PM PST by Cowboy Bob ("Other People's Money" = The life blood of Liberalism)
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To: simpson96

Christian Century? More like Barfly Decade.


7 posted on 02/23/2018 12:58:57 PM PST by AmericanMermaid
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To: simpson96

God, that repulsive wretch isn’t even in the White House anymore and her adoring gaggle of brain-dead she-fans just can’t help spewing out puff pieces about her.


8 posted on 02/23/2018 12:59:12 PM PST by Pravious
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To: Cowboy Bob

...for a dude.


9 posted on 02/23/2018 12:59:29 PM PST by kdot
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To: simpson96

For a large homely woman, without even the gift of a sharp mind, Michelle Obama has done exceedingly well in life - and she basically lucked into it all.

She was lucky enough to be born into a time of heavy-handed affirmative action promotion of marginally qualified blacks. That got her into the Ivy Leagues and subsequent cushy employment.

And she was even luckier to be selected as the “beard” for an extremely ambitious gay/bisexual man (who became the biggest ever recipient of affirmative action promotion). That got her into the White House and a subsequent $ 100 million net worth.


10 posted on 02/23/2018 1:00:57 PM PST by Dagnabitt
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To: RoosterRedux

Considering Mooshele’s dimensions, I say it’s more like a Clydesdale’s tail.


11 posted on 02/23/2018 1:01:30 PM PST by beelzepug (The permanent political class that runs this country is...the great(est) danger we face)
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To: simpson96
I clicked on the link so you don't have to.


12 posted on 02/23/2018 1:01:55 PM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: beelzepug
Not to disagree, but I love Clydesdales. They have prettier and more dignified tales.

But perhaps similar in size.

13 posted on 02/23/2018 1:05:02 PM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: Yo-Yo

Check out her eyebrows.


14 posted on 02/23/2018 1:07:10 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero

They are painted


15 posted on 02/23/2018 1:08:22 PM PST by poinq
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To: poinq
The "stylish" First Lady....yes, she's been called "stylish."


16 posted on 02/23/2018 1:12:24 PM PST by Liz ( Our side has 8 Trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: Yo-Yo

She looks like an NFL linebacker..
Oh ..wait..

What!


17 posted on 02/23/2018 1:12:54 PM PST by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: simpson96

I don’t know how you could read this long mindless screed without coming to the conclusion that these people are hopelessly broken.


18 posted on 02/23/2018 1:16:43 PM PST by Brooklyn Attitude (The first step in ending the war on white people is to recognize it exists.)
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To: simpson96
The Respectables, as I like to call them, claimed that our refusal to practice chastity and piety and avoid crime

I read this a couple of times to make sure I really understood it.

The author is saying that people like Booker T. Washington was haranguing the other blacks for not practicing chastity and piety and avoiding crime. She is admitting that the normal for blacks is to NOT avoid crime, to NOT practice chastity, to NOT practice piety.

So is she claiming that real black culture is a bunch of godless, criminal whores and pimps???

I think Mr. Washington would have flogged her out of town on a rail.
19 posted on 02/23/2018 1:18:37 PM PST by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: simpson96

60s hippie-pseudo-poetic psychobabble can be utterly meaningless. This article opens up the plaintive soul of what must be a chronic whiner, without a shred of redeeming value.


20 posted on 02/23/2018 1:22:28 PM PST by Migraine ((A smartass who is right can be downright funny. A smartass who is wrong is just a smartass.))
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