Whaaaa? Me, judgemental? Naaaaah….
We look at our 44thPresident of the United States of America, Barack Obama, now and WE KNOW he has it going on! Degrees from Harvard and Columbia don’t hurt any, a stint as an Illinois state senator—oh that’s cool too. But a presidency, oh he’s a bad mutha—shut yo mouth! And who has been there through IT ALL—standing by his side, producing and raising kids together, forging her own magnificent path? None other than his wife, our First Lady: Michelle Obama.
However when you think back, Michelle has been with Barack BEFOREany of the notoriety, money and accolades. Back when he was a skinny, geeky, big-eared dreamer—she didn’t foresee the future as turning out to be what it has. But to her that didn’t matter, she was in love with a man. Now how many of you chicas would do the same?
We are so much fashioned in a world where the FAST LIFEhas been ingrained in our culture (and by that I mean Black Culture, especially). We see sports figures, entertainers, actors/actresses, models and we think, Hmmm….if only I could get with one of them. But what about the quiet, determined young man who might not make $5.4 million right out of high school or college—but that doesn’t mean he won’t make that and more?
It all goes down to standards and what we dream of having for our future. Now by no means am I saying that you should lower your standards. But I think we all should take a long, hard look at what we deem important in a potential mate. We could be passing up on some GREAT men because of what our past standards have been.
I ain’t gonna lie. I used to be a staunch “I’m only talking to dark-skinned men who are at least 6’3 with an athletic build”. And I mean light brights didn’t have a chance with me. But over the past few years, I’ve let that go as I have run into a lot of great men who were nowhere near my category. And it made me realize that by setting that standard for myself, I was leaving out so many great potentials. While I do still believe in having to be physically attracted to someone, the outside package is not so much as a concern for me as the brain is. I’m now so in love with sexy brains, it ain’t even crazy. Especially a man who is passionate about what he does, “wooo” don’t even get me started.
But I was sent this articleby a male friend, in lieu of a conversation we had a few nights ago. And I thought it was pretty interesting. It basically talks about the Obamas, and how Michelle was down for Barack before he was our cool ass President.
So V&Mers, tell us what you think? Ladies, would you have given our President Obama a second look back in the day—be honest? Fellas, you can weigh in too–do you feel you might have been overlooked by some thirsty broads?
Let’s chat!
Tags: Barack Obama, Black Men, black women, dating, love, relationships
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July 1, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I can honestly say that I’m attracted to potentional and possibility. Physical types always fall by the wasteside b/c I’ve dated all types (albeit I do have a penchant for a chocolate drop with pearly whites, tall medium-athletic build, in a clean fit) but when you are getting to know that person you get a sense of where their head is. You can tell if they put family first (big bonus) but also have high career/life aspirations. Or if they would be fine living a just.over.broke existance while bitching about the life they “should” be living. I think you are who you attract, so if you are the kind of person who wants and is driven toward big things then you will find people that are attracted to that sort of woman and general they are similar types themselves.
As far as My President, I’m sure My First Lady might not have known he would be President of the United States but you can damn sure bet she knew SHE was going to be somebody, and that he would 1. not hold her back 2. ENCOURAGE her and 3. be an accurate reflection of her dreams and aspirations.
July 3, 2009 at 6:32 pm
I agree with you JessJ….physical attributes don’t mean a thing if the intellect is not present. You can be sexy as all get out, but if you got air between the ears, then I’ma have to keep it moving.
July 1, 2009 at 9:57 pm
2P, I can understand where you’re coming from, but I’m a strong believer in attraction. If I’m not vibing with you on a mental and physical level, I ain’t really go sh!t to say to you. And granted, maybe there are some ladies out there with jacked up expectations when it comes to there men, but I don’t really blame them. You gotta go after what you want.
Honestly, if my name had been Michelle, I may have looked @ Barack and been like “Damn he got some big ass ears.” Does that make me shallow? And maybe I would look back wistfully now that he’s president. Maybe he’d be my one that got away. But, I’d be satisfied with my decision in the end, because I’d like to WANT a man before I ever NEED him. I have more of a sliding scale when it comes to what I’m looking for in a man. Matter of fact, you just gave me an idea for a blog entry follow-up.
July 3, 2009 at 6:33 pm
No I don’t think it makes you shallow–everyone has their type and everyone is attracted to different kinds of people. It just turned out for Michelle that Barack was apparently her cup of tea.