It came in my Saturday paper, as did other Sunday sections delivered a day early. You can read it for yourself here.
I appreciate that the Obamas’ approach to their union seems real, that they have their disagreements, that Michelle Obama didn’t plan on a life in politics, that they’ve had low points. I also like that they seem to genuinely like one another. The article is not as treacly as I thought it might be.
This, by the fabulous Vanessa Richmond at AlterNet (I’m starting to look for her stuff), talks about the six marriage myths shattered by the First Couple’s union — or, at least, the Times’ portrayal of it.
I am particularly intrigued by Richmond’s Nos. 1 (if you’re in love all your dreams will come true) and 3 (when you’re married, you become one person). I think some of us — and I’m not saying any one within the ping of this blog — place too much responsibility on our spouses. I may have done that a bit in my first marriage, and for that I am heartily sorry.
And none of us benefits by two becoming one, at least, not by my definition of that phrase.
But perhaps you disagree. Married or not, do you see the benefits in two-becoming-one? Or maybe the writer of that original verse was talking about sex in particular? Beats me. But I applaud Michelle Obama for not attending every speech given by her husband. Three times hearing the thing, and only the most proficient of actors could still look interested…
