President Barack Obama spoke with admiration of his wife's curves in a Time interview touching on numerous topics including race, equality and body image.
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"When you’re a dad of two daughters you notice more," Obama told Time. "When I was a kid I didn’t realize ... the enormous pressure that young women are placed under in terms of looking a certain way. And being cute in a certain way. And are you wearing the right clothes? And is your hair done the right way? And that pressure I think is historically always been harder on African American women than just about any other women... And so Michelle and I are always guarding against that. And the fact that they’ve got a tall gorgeous mom who has some curves, and that their father appreciates, I think is helpful."
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Misty Copeland,
the first black principal ballerina in the 75-year history of the American Ballet Theatre,
joined the president for the interview and stressed the importance of appreciating your own body image.
"That something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning of my career is I didn’t want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the … ballet," she said. "I wanted to be myself. I didn’t want to have to wear makeup that made my nose look thinner. There are just – it’s important I think with this generation of young minorities, children especially, to feel comfortable and confident in their skin."
