Michelle Obama Passed Over As A Girl, But She’s Making Up For It Today

Michelle Obama took a brief trip down memory lane, back to her school days, to talk about a time when she was not considered as smart as the boys in her class. She recalled how she was passed over when it came time to answer questions. Instead of calling on Michelle in the class, the teacher would call upon a boy. It was that way for all the girls in her schoolroom, even though the girls had better grades.

There came a time when Michelle realized that the hopes and goals she set for herself were polarized from the messages she was receiving from the people around her. One of those messages that conflicted her view was that, as a girl, her “voice was somehow less important,” according to CNBC News. Those messages also conveyed that what her body looked like was more important than what she had upstairs for a mind.

Jump ahead a few decades, and Michelle went on to find her own way among the boys and girls who grew up to be the men and women around her today. She might have been passed over for questions as a girl, but today her supporters were chomping at the bit to hear her thoughts on everything from global warming to her thoughts on the Trump administration.

Michelle, who has seemingly slammed Trump in the past without mentioning any names, has graduated her approach. During a tech conference in Utah yesterday, Michelle Obama compared her husband’s White House, which she claims was built on hope, to Trump’s, which she feels is built on fear.

Michelle Obama: Trump's White House is built on fear https://t.co/BPR8iuno2t pic.twitter.com/NtcyAGupaO

— The Hill (@thehill) September 23, 2017

This is a woman who grew up in a world where girls weren’t considered as smart as the boys. Pop Sugar didn’t rate Michelle’s speech with gender in mind, they suggest that the former first lady “expertly called out the hypocrisy that often surrounds the conservative discourse on health care.” She had a lot to say on the direction of the nation today, according to an earlier article from the Inquisitr.

One of the words Michelle used when talking about being a young girl having to push at times to be considered equal with the boys is “bossy,” and she asked herself if maybe as a girl, she was too “bossy.” This was during a time when she discovered that being strong, powerful, and outspoken wasn’t considered attractive qualities for a girl.

As she got older, she remembers “catcalls” from men acting as if she were an object to be commented on. Dealing with men sexualizing women was another less-than-perfect aspect of being a woman when Michelle grew up. A lot of this type of treatment lead to “self-doubt,” conveys the former first lady.

When speaking to a group of girls in Madrid last year, during a tour for her Let Girls Learn initiative, she came right out and said that it’s okay to be bossy. She doesn’t care if you look at her like she’s bossy, or if you think she is bossy, and even if you call her bossy, she doesn’t take that as a jab; rather, to her, it’s a compliment.

Breaking down gender norms is extremely important to Michelle. She wants the world to tell their sons that it is okay to cry and their girls that it is okay to be bossy. The former first lady even encourages young girls to be proud if they are labeled bossy. When growing up, Michelle would have an inner battle with herself over what people’s perceptions were of a girl versus her own perceptions, which were completely different.

Eventually, the constant worry gave way to Michelle dismissing the doubters and listening to her own voice. She urges young girls everywhere to do the same. This is the same woman who has so much support behind her today that if she made a serious run for president, she’d be a force to be reckoned with. Michelle has been, and still is very adamant that she will never throw her hat into the ring for a run at the White House. The reason has to do with her family; she’s made a vow not to do that to her family, as they’ve been through enough, which was reported by CNN in April.

[Featured Image by Carolyn Kaster/AP Images]