Michelle Obama has revealed she felt ‘confined’ during her eight-year stint as First Lady, as she opened up about her time in the White House.
The 61-year-old appeared on a new limited series titled IMO: The Look, where she admitted she feels like her true self now more than she did while her husband, Barack Obama, was president.
Obama released her coffee table book, The Look, on November 4, which documented her style evolution during her time in the Official Residence from 2009 to 2017.
The author and podcast host was talking about the role fashion plays in her life and how her time on the world stage during Barack’s presidency shaped how she represented herself.
‘That little eight-year stint as First Lady tends to be a bit confining because the job was not just to represent me, but to represent the nation,’ she shared with her guests, Jane Fonda, Bethann Hardison, and moderator, Jenna Lyons.
‘As the first Black family in that house… Black folks feel in all the first positions that we’re carrying the torch, we’re lighting the way,’ she explained.
Obama added there was immense pressure to do ‘really, really well so that the next folks will have a chance’ and ‘get it right,’ in case they impacted how minorities would be treated in positions of leadership in the future.
‘Women, people of color, people of different ethnicities, of different genders and sexual orientation – we all feel that,’ she said.
Michelle Obama admitted that spending eight years as the First Lady was ‘confining,’ as she opened up about her time in the White House
The former First Lady then spoke about how this impacted how she chose to dress, describing it as a ‘role’ she played.
‘A lot of my fashion choices, as we talked about in The Look, were about using the language as a way to send a message about beauty, about culture, about the American spirit, about inclusion,’ she mused.
‘So you know, I had a role,’ she explained. ‘And now that I’m out of that role, fashion is about me, it’s selfishly completely about what I like and what I want to do.’
While the mom-of-two quickly assured listeners her clothing choices have always reflected what she wants to do – even in the White House – she reiterated it was definitely more ‘confined.’
‘Now I feel like, whatever I do, I don’t have to explain it or it doesn’t have a consequence in that way,’ she said.
‘It wasn’t that I resented that, but I was representing [the White House] and now I’m just representing me.’
Last week, the former First Lady spoke about the beauty standards Black women face, including the pressure to straighten their locks to ‘follow white people’s beauty standards.’
Obama spoke about the topic during a live sit-down with Tracee Ellis Ross to discuss her new book, where she claimed that Black women are ‘trapped’ by the pressures to keep their hair straight and ‘can’t swim’ or ‘go to the gym’ because of it.
Last week, the former First Lady spoke about the beauty standards Black women face with Tracee Ellis Ross (pictured)
Obama spoke about the role fashion plays in her life and how her time on the world stage during Barack’s presidency shaped how she represented herself
Obama explained that in the White House she had a ‘role,’ and now that she’s out of that role fashion is about her again. ‘It’s selfishly completely about what I like and what I want to do,’ the author explained
Obama was the first Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Pictured with her husband Barack at the White House State dinner in 2009
‘Let me explain something to white people. Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern,’ she began.
‘When we straighten it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness.
‘That’s why so many of us can’t swim, and we run away from the water. People won’t go to the gym because [they’re] trying to keep [their] hair straight for y’all! It’s exhausting, expensive and takes up so much time.’
Obama’s admission comes after she spoke about the delicate balancing act of representing her Black culture and being the First Lady while speaking with Cosmopolitan’s beauty editor Julee Wilson, actress Marsai Martin and hair expert Yene Damtew last week on her podcast.
She opened up about the consideration taken into account by both herself and her team when her husband was elected President in 2009.
‘I knew the importance of making boarder statements about hair as the first Black First Lady,’ she explained.
‘But what I will tell you is that I consciously understood that – at least until people knew me, which took eight years – I needed to not make hair part of the conversation.’
Obama said that’s why she has chosen to speak about her hair journey now, saying: ‘It is always such an important part of a woman and a Black woman’s journey.’
