Mama Obama
I frequently tell women they need to look for female role models to emulate. By watching the behavior of certain successful women you can get a good idea for how you should act if you want to be taken seriously and achieve your goals. Michelle Obama is a great example of a woman who does a pretty darn good job of walking The Thin Pink Line. She’s educated (Princeton and Harvard), she’s articulate, she has a sense of humor, she’s genuine, and she’s all that without losing an ounce of her femininity. When it comes to role models, I’d put her in my top ten. Now that I’ve had the chance to watch her, I’d even put her ahead of Hillary. Who would YOU put on the top ten list and why? Let’s see if together we can develop a Top Ten for Walking the Thin Pink Line.
TAGS: Michelle Obama, women role models
Lois - say more about why you would put Michelle Obama ahead of Hillary Clinton? She certainly is walking the Thin Pink Line with the world watching yet she’s doing it as a candidate’s wife.
Hillary Clinton may have stumbled a few times but she walked the line as a candidate!
Comment by Carol Frohlinger, JD — August 13, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
Good question, Carol. I agree that Hillary walked the thin pink well as a candidate, but more generally speaking her strident communication style tends to turn many people off. Michelle O. does a better job of communicating without sounding pedantic. In addition, I put Michelle O. ahead of Hillary on my top ten because she consistently exudes a genuiness that’s so important for walking the thin pink line. Hillary sometimes comes across as being too political, lacking humor and not as emotionally intelligent as Michelle O. What do you think?
Comment by Dr. Lois Frankel — August 13, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
There is a big difference in being a candidate’s wife vs being the candidate. Comparing Hillary to Michelle is like comparing apples and oranges. The characteristics required for a presedential candidate are definitely those that are required in a presidential candidate’s spouse. Both women are walking the thin pink line but surely one’s role is quite different than the other.
Comment by Gagan Rudra — August 13, 2008 @ 7:40 pm
Great point, Gagan. Who do you have on your list of women who successfully walk the thin pink line?
Comment by Dr. Lois Frankel — August 13, 2008 @ 7:42 pm
I am sorry, I don’t think Michelle Obama walks the pink line. She is angry, angry. Hillary walks the pink line. Hillary is like most of us, tough as nails and never quits. I just wish I agreed with her politics. She would have made an outstanding candidate this go-round. Elizabeth Edwards walks the pink line with dignity and grace. SHE should be angry. If she is she makes it seamless and does not show it. To me, walking the pink line is being a woman, being confident and competent and making it look seamless. One woman I admire is Marilu Henner. She uses her energy in an economical manner, with no (energy) leaks.
Comment by Marilyn Ziemann, CPA — August 13, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
Although I see many women with high visibility public profiles walk the thin pink line, I am more inspired by women in every day life, who walk or try and walk the thin pink line. I see them in corporate world, in entrepreneurial business ventures, in running small grass root non profit voluntary organizations, average women who are able to fight adverse conditions in developing and in developed worlds, who are working hard to help others in their communities face every day challenges with grace, pride and strength. These women succeed sometimes and sometimes fail in walking the think pink line, but what inspires me about them is that they are just average women without any privileged backgrounds and they have the courage and ambition to walk the thin pink line. So I am a great supporter of women in the public eye but I am in awe of these average women who aspire to walk the think pink line.
Comment by Gagan Rudra — August 13, 2008 @ 9:13 pm
Dear Lois,
Before I even opened the link to the TPL, I was going to nominate Michelle. You beat me to it!
As another example, I’d like to nominate Madeline Albright.
I also thought of Ellen Goodman and Whoppi Goldberg. I’ll be interested to see who else comes to mind.
Comment by Roberta Youtan Kay — August 13, 2008 @ 10:25 pm
Madelaine Albright: superb choice. I also thought of Whoopi Goldberg. Local heros of mine are Dr. Elaine Leader, Executive Director of Teen Line (a suicide prevention hotline for teens at Cedars-Sinai), Congresswoman Diane Watson, and Dr. Sandra Thompson, president of the Altadena NAACP. Michelle Obama? sorry, no, not on my list.
Comment by Marilyn Ziemann, CPA — August 14, 2008 @ 12:22 am
I agree, Madelaine Albright is a wonderful choice. I also thought about Barbara Walters. She has survived the most difficult situations because she was a woman pioneer in a man’s world. She held her head high and maintained her dignity. Hard work and focus revived her career and brought her to where she is today. She has a sense of humor as well. She has mentored many who followed her and serves as a role model to many more.
Comment by Christine Reiter — August 14, 2008 @ 12:39 am
You can’t have a conversation about strong women without mentioning Oprah Winfrey. You may not agree with her domination of all media, but being a female of color brought up in an unstable household, you have to congratualte her for being able to rise through the ranks to be such a dominate force. She has managed to stay basically scandal free and she gives a good chunch of her hard earned cash back to those in need
Comment by teej — August 14, 2008 @ 7:12 am
“Three decades of athletic excellence” is the phrase used most frequently to describe the oldest woman to qualify for the Olympic games. Dana Torres began winning Olympic gold before Michael Phelps was born! But like the women you’ve all mentioned, Hillary, Oprah, and Michelle, she’s a lot more than what the media has latched onto. Overcoming challenges in her career (both in and out of the pool), her relationship, and battling an eating disorder, she’s proven that a woman’s strength can change the way the world looks at maturity, which makes us all ageless.
Comment by Chris — August 14, 2008 @ 8:29 am
Though I know some of you will disagree, I would have to add Dorothy Parker to the list. She may not have been a high-profile political figure, or media giant, but she does represent one of the most accomplished feminists and successful literary writers in women’s history. In the 1920’s, Time magazine called her “the tongue heard ’round the world”. “I’m a feminist,” she said, “God knows I’m loyal to my sex, and you must remember that from my very early days, when New York was scarcely safe from buffaloes, I was in the struggle for equal rights for women.” She inspired countless women, including me.
Most people know her for her caustic wit, wisecracks, and sharp eye for 20th century urban foibles, but they don’t know that she also dedicated most of her life to human and civil rights. Upon her death in 1967, she left her entire estate to Martin Luther King, Jr. even though she had never met him. Her estate went to the (NAACP) after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
“Maidens, gather not the yew,
Leave the glossy myrtle sleeping;
Any lad was born untrue,
Never a one is fit your weeping.
Pretty dears, your tumult cease;
Love’s a fardel, burthening double.
Clear your hearts, and have you peace–
Gangway, girls: I’ll show you trouble!”
Comment by Jessica — August 14, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
I think that all the women cited here have walked the thin pink line. However, I do believe it is much easier for Michelle O. than Hilary and to compare the two is a little bit unfair. The standards are very different when you are the candidate’s wife vs. the candidate. Also, the age difference and the path women like Hilary, Madeleine etc have paved enables women who are younger to be more “normal” etc. The first women to have broken the barriers to all male careers and schools in the 60s and 70s had to be a little direct and socially forward to have survived. I am not saying that it is necessary the best way to be but when society was not as accepting of women in certain careers then potentially damaging habits and behaviors were adopted to survive. It would be fascinating to get the viewpoints of women over 60 who have had successful careers to comment here.
Comment by mac — August 16, 2008 @ 10:00 pm