Did Michelle Obama Make A Statement In Saudi Arabia By Not Wearing a Headscarf? Probably Not
There was a bit of hoopla over First Lady Michelle Obama’s choice not to wear a headscarf when she joined President Barack Obama for a condolence visit to the new Saudi leader, King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Republican Senator Ted Cruz praised the first lady for “taking a stand” by not adhering to Saudi customs.
Cruz tweeted the following.
Kudos to @FLOTUS for standing up for women & refusing to wear Sharia-mandated head-scarf in Saudi Arabia. Nicely done http://t.co/TlSw4Qc9KQ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 28, 2015
Nice sentiment, but was it warranted?
Maybe Cruz felt it necessary to defend the first lady’s honor because of negative tweets regarding her lack of head scarf. One of the hashtags was #Michelle_Obama_Unveiled.
#Michelle_Obama_unveiled disrespectful at least a hat would have been called for http://t.co/7qVXJBUkH3
— Martha Peterson (@magiccfo) January 28, 2015
On the featured article pic, it looks as though everyone is getting along as the Obamas were greeted at the King Riyadh Airport by Saudi royals. It seems as though no one was shocked that Michelle Obama wasn’t wearing a headscarf.
Here’s a former first lady, without a headscarf, in Saudi Arabia.
When the president and the first lady visited King Salman, he shook hands with Michelle Obama just as his predecessor shook hands with other women, including former First Lady Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Saudi custom forbids men to touch women who are not relatives, but exceptions are made for foreign dignitaries.
Below, the dignitary happens to be a woman, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The German chancellor dared to go bareheaded too.
Part of the controversy is that Michelle Obama wore a headscarf in Indonesia — but not in Saudi Arabia. If she had worn a headscarf in Saudi Arabia, there would have been negative talk about that too. What’s the saying? Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
What the first lady wore in the above video is an Indonesian kerudung, and perhaps it was because she was visiting a mosque.
Michelle Obama likely wasn’t making a statement in Saudi Arabia by not wearing a headscarf, and the brouhaha was just a lot of noise.
[Images: Fortune, New York Times, Times of Israel, Columbian, and Rediff]
