Michelle Obama threw cold water on speculation that she and her husband, Barack, are headed for divorce.
The former first lady sparked widespread speculation of a marriage rift when she failed to show at the high-profile events of President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and Donald J. Trump’s presidential inauguration, leaving the former president on his own.
Four months later, while speaking on the “Work in Progress” podcast, Obama explained that she’s tired of doing things for everybody else, and just needed some “me” time. She also suggested that she’s a victim of antiquated societal stereotypes.
Michelle Obama shuts down divorce rumors after being noticeably absent from public events with Barack:
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people. So much so that people, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they… pic.twitter.com/JGgPL4uqUj
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“I get to look at my calendar, which I did this year, with a real big example of me, myself, looking at something that I was supposed to do, without naming names, and I chose to do what was best for me. Not what I had to do. Not what I thought other people wanted me to do,” Obama told podcast host Sophia Bush, according to The Hill.
“That was an important test for me, just as a woman, as an independent person. Because like all women and a lot of people, I operate from guilt,” she continued.
Obama only alluded to the events where she was conspicuously absent, but suggested divorce rumors spread because people couldn’t “fathom” that a woman would do something for herself.
“We as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people. I mean, so much so that this year people… they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” she said.
“This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?”
“But that’s what society does to us.”
Obama continued: “We start, actually, finally going, ‘What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?’ And if it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible,” The Hill reported.
“The interesting thing is that when I say no, for the most part, people are like, ‘I get it.’ And I’m OK. And that’s the thing that we as women, I think struggle with disappointing people,” Obama said.
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