In a blog entry at Clutch magazine [5], Britni Danielle takes up a blogger's complaint that President Barack Obama's election-night depiction of his daughters as "beautiful" diminished their importance as girls and pandered to women.
... In the President's victory speech Tuesday night, Mr. Obama praised his family and told his daughters, "Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes, you're growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful young women, just like your mom, and I'm so proud of you."
While most people watching let out a collective, "Awwww," [Alice] Robb, a third year student at Keble College, called the President's comments "inappropriate" and said the mention of the Obama girls' beauty "stung."
She explains [6]:
Obama's comments beg the question of why a girl's beauty should be source of pride for her father— and why beauty should be a value lauded alongside strength and intelligence.
The President may have been directing his comments at only two people, but he had the ears of the world, and on a day that should have been a triumph for women, his remarks stung ...
... I'm sure President and Mrs. Obama have taught their daughters that there is more to life than being a pretty face, but damn if it doesn't feel good when your dad marvels at you like you are the most precious, and yes, beautiful girl in the word.
I agree with Robb on one thing: Tuesday was a great day for women. The senate is now comprised of 20 female senators, and many anti-choice laws were beaten back by the electorate. But it was also a win for black women and girls who will have four more years of the Obamas and their beautiful girls in the White House.
Read Britni Danielle's entire piece at Clutch magazine [5].
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