Michelle Obama has been a busy lady and not just with her usual duties as First Lady, somehow with that crazy schedule of hers, she has managed to slot in a magazine shoot or two!
First appearing in the cover of Essence magazine alongside her husband Barack Obama, and now she has gone solo on the cover of InStyle.
The topic of conversation within her spread – style, social media and the biggest challenge facing young girls today, Michelle never fails at being a strong advocate for women.
Let Girls Learn initiative and why we should pay attention
“Sixty-two million girls around the world aren’t in school, and the first thing that comes to my mind is, ‘That could’ve been me.’ [I think about] how I would have felt at the age of 10 or 11 or 12 if somebody walked up and said, ‘That’s it. Your dreams are over! You’re going to have to leave school and get married to somebody twice your age and start having kids.'”
Obstacles young women face around the world
“…there are places in the world where families don’t believe that girls are worthy of an education. They’ll save money and send their sons to school, but they believe that it’s more important for their girls to stay home, get married early, care for the chickens, cook, and clean.”
Strategy behind her social media use
“We can fool ourselves into thinking that everybody is still watching the evening news, but I live with Generation Z, and I know that their habits, the way they take in information in, is so different. And they’ve changed… We’ve got to meet our constituents where they are, and they’re on Snapchat.”
Trends
“I tend not to worry about the trends, because what works for an 18-year-old selfie queen may not for a 52-year-old First Lady who is a mom of teenagers she is trying to be a good role model for.”
Style
“Very casual. No makeup, a T-shirt, and a pair of ripped jean shorts or workout pants because I’m always on the verge of going to or coming from [working out]. I love color and pieces that make me feel good, but it’s much more informal.”
What’s next?
“My hopes are to recapture some of the everydayness, some anonymity. And we know that will take some time. But I always joke that I dream of opening up my front door and walking out without any notification, without any security.”
“….and it will be nice to open up the paper, look at the front page, and know that you’re not responsible for every headline… It’s sort of like, It’s not my job.”
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The October issue of InStyle magazine is available from Friday 9th September 2016.