If you're not upset about this Michelle Obama cartoon, you're part of the problem
Featuring our first lady, Michelle Obama, and Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, it misses the mark in regard to addressing government tyranny and instead expresses racism, sexism and transantagonism. And while the reasons it is offensive are many in number, an age-old message reads loud and clear: black women are held to a different standard of "greatness" than white women.
We want to provide a very explicit disclaimer that we in no way mean any disrespect to Melania Trump. Really and truly. We have zero qualms with the fact that she has chosen to pose for nude photographs and is an immigrant in the United States (something Trump himself is not in agreement with, as his build a wall/ Mexican immigrants are rapists rhetoric makes clear).
But Michelle Obama is the pinnacle for conventional respectability (which, admittedly tends to be problematic) she is Ivy League-educated from both Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She is happily married, a devoted mother, a snazzy dresser and an incredibly competent FLOTUS.
None of that, however, is enough to protect her. The cartoon clearly shows her stylized as a man, her real-life curves replaced by male features, including a penis bulge. It portrays her with a scowl as though she never smiles, perpetuating the "angry black woman" stereotype.
The critiques of the uber-successful tennis player Serena Williams also accuse her obviously female-professional-athlete-21-time-grand-slam body of looking manly to denigrate her. Black women are often not even seen as people, let alone attractive, so any defense that this cartoon was just a joke will never be enough. This is harmful stuff.
That Michelle Obama is still not considered great despite her extensive list of accomplishments is questionable enough. Add to it the fact that the woman they compare her to has literally none of the same accomplishments, save being an attractive white woman and former model, is telling.