Michelle Obama Watch

Hours after we launched back in June, Salon.com sent us a boatload of traffic along with other larger blogs. Thanks! This time, Kate Harding gave a nod to “weeMichelles”. She said the following at the beginning of her article called “American Princesses”

The blog Michelle Obama Watch has been referring to Sasha and Malia Obama as the “weeMichelles” since it launched, and now that adorable title seems more appropriate than ever. It’s not just Mom who’s the style icon anymore –Salon.com

Kate goes on to describe the lives of previous first daughters and the conflicted feeling of being excited to watch Sasha and Malia Obama grow up while being aware of the pitfalls associated with such attention:

I’m uncomfortable with the fact that I have such access to the lives of little girls who aren’t my nieces or friends’ kids — especially when at least one of them is going to hit puberty, with all the awkwardness that entails, while her dad’s in office. Kate Harding, Salon.com

Count me in as conflicted as well. Like Kate, I am conflicted about posting about the children of famous parents. On my other blog, I tend to only post the names of children if they are missing or have been the victims of crime. Once we get past the “oh that’s so cute” phase of the transition, we likely won’t cover the weeMichelles very much at all. HOPEFULLY!

I’ve actually been referring to them as the weeMichelles for much longer over at What About Our Daughters. Although I tend to not use children’s real names when posting about their parents, I’ve become more lax with the weeMichelles, but it still is awkward.

Someone lamented that “weeMichelles” denied the two girls their individuality. Quite frankly, I don’t think we need to know them as individuals separate and apart from their parents until they make the knowing decision to reveal their individuality to us.

I actually don’t like the thought of a weeMIchelle dedicated blog…creepy, yet you couldn’t ignore the way they might be treated or viewed in the media or the fact that they might be subjected to the same stereotyping their mother experienced. “weeMichelles” is a compromise. It acknowledges that our interest in them flows from and through their roles as their parent’s daughters, everything else is none of our business. IMHO

Posted by Gina