❓WHAT HAPPENED: Former First Lady Michelle Obama discussed conforming to supposed white beauty standards during her time in the White House in an interview promoting her fashion book, The Look.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Michelle Obama and actress Tracee Ellis Ross.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Interviews and discussions held at events such as the 2025 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival and the 2025 SXSW Conference in Austin, Texas.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Let me explain something to white people! Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern, so when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness!” – Michelle Obama
🎯IMPACT: Obama’s comments have reignited discussions around supposed hair discrimination and laws to ban it.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama claims she felt forced to conform to “white beauty standards” during her time in the White House, revealing she kept her hair straight for eight years to fit in with white expectations. Speaking with actress Tracee Ellis Ross to promote her new fashion book, The Look, Mrs. Obama described the effort as “exhausting” and blamed white society for imposing standards that many black women feel pressured to follow.
Mrs. Obama reflected on her upbringing in Chicago and her experiences navigating elite spaces, saying black people are often taught that “how you present can sometimes save your life.” She wrote in her book, “In a way, being First Lady was just another professional experience where I had to conform to a white environment of appropriateness.”
Addressing white people directly, Mrs. Obama said, “Let me explain something to white people! Our hair comes out of our head naturally in a curly pattern, so when we’re straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness!”
She then blamed the supposed white expectation that black people straighten their hair for the fact that many black people cannot swim, saying, “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 we’re trying to keep our hair straight for y’all. It is exhausting, and it’s so expensive and it takes up so much time!”
Addressing an imaginary white person harassing her, she railed, “Don’t tell me how to wear my hair, don’t wonder about it, don’t touch it—just don’t!”
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