In which I angrily rant about things unrelated to Germany or teaching (for a change)

^ that's me today.

So I have some quick business to address before I can begin my rant.

First of all this is my 20^th post and I don’t know how that happened.

Second of all apparently my blog has had over 2,500 views and I really don’t know how that happened. I mean, thanks, and I hope you guys are getting something out of reading it, because I have no intended audience and quite literally just use this blog as a less personal form of my journal where I ramble about whatever is on my mind at the time. So if you somehow find that entertaining it’s cool with me.

Third I just got back from about a month of traveling and nonsense, so what I was originally planning on doing was posting pictures and talking about Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges, Paris, and Berlin. You know, low key stuff.

But then I changed my mind because of this:

http://nyti.ms/1OxFRdS

^ this is an article on the New York Times website about Michelle Obama’s recent trip to Asia to promote the “Let Girls Learn” program that she has formed with the Peace Corps.

My first thought was “Oh, that’s so awesome, Michelle Obama is amazing, I wonder what the article says about the program and what they’re doing?”

The answer was that the article said nothing. Did it mention the 62 million girls worldwide who aren't in school? Did it elaborate on the 11 countries that they are starting this initiative in? Did it discuss how education can improve these women’s lives in the most basic of ways, like helping them escape poverty, violence, and disease?

No.

The article was entirely about how the clothing Michelle Obama wore during her trip was emphasizing a new, feminist twist on 1950’s fashion, making a bold statement that apparently Angela Merkel and Hillary Rodham Clinton should follow.

First of all, WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK?

So she wore some full skirts and some flower prints, who cares?! I don’t think her thought process was, “Oh gee, I’m going on this silly tour of Asia to discuss education for women, I know what I’ll do, I’ll whip out my ‘carnation-print Carolina Herrera frock’ and simply blow the minds of those poor uneducated women and hope that the media spends days analyzing the meaning of my outfit choices instead of the meaning of this program that I am promoting”.

Then the article got even better, suggesting that her attire was actually for the benefit of the aforementioned under-educated girls; 

“In choosing to meet young women in clothes that, perhaps, make her look like them — or how they may want to look if they didn't have to wear school uniforms — Mrs. Obama was implying: You can dress like a girl and dream about getting a Ph.D.”

Or, OR, maybe clothing is just clothing and what she was really implying was NOTHING, BECAUSE HOW YOU DRESS SHOULDN'T BE AN ISSUE THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED WITH WHEN YOU CAN’T EVEN GET AN EDUCATION.

The thought that there are girls out there who won't be even able to finish high school breaks my heart and makes me furious all at the same time. So it's wonderful that our First Lady is trying to shed some light on this issue and help these girls, and yet all this article did was blabber on about her goddamn clothing, reducing this Princeton-and-Harvard educated woman to nothing more than a mannequin. 

Maybe I’m just being touchy because education and feminism are two of the topics that I can get the most passionate/heated about, but quite frankly I don’t care, because I know that if a man had been on this tour of Asia to promote women’s education not a damn word would have been said about his clothing because no one would have given a shit about what color his pants were or whether or not he wore a tie.

I’d love your thoughts on this, since apparently some people are actually reading this shit (and by “this shit” I mean my blog). Do you agree or disagree with me? (and if you disagree bring it on, I’m feeling argumentative and I could debate this topic for days)

Side note: here’s the link for the Let Girls Learn initiative, because why not educate yourself about something that is actually important in this world?

https://letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov/

Side note part two: With the thought of giving the New York Times a chance to redeem itself, I searched "Michelle Obama" on their website, and they had posted an article a few weeks ago before she left for the trip, detailing a little more about the program. "Okay," I thought, "Maybe I have been too quick to judge them". Until I read one of the last sentences,
"As first lady, Mrs. Obama has not often traveled abroad without Mr. Obama; this trip will be her fourth." 
Because clearly the most important aspect of this trip is the fact that she is doing it alone, without a man.

In other words, I'm still pissed.

Edit: Here is Michelle Obama's Travel Journal from her trip (a much more worthwhile read than the NYT article)
https://medium.com/let-girls-learn/the-first-lady-s-travel-journal-educating-and-empowering-girls-in-cambodia-f3847aabb9e9