Comments on "Becoming by Michelle Obama"

I started reading "Becoming" by Michelle Obama a few years ago, and, determined to finish it, I have completed it and would like to offer my thoughts.

Why I read this book

I picked up this book mostly for the hype. In my generation, this is the first memoir by such an influential public figure as the First Lady of the United States. Given her popularity amongst young people, I thought this would be something digestible and probably educational - she could teach me something about womanhood (in modern society) and empowerment. I was very excited.

I also picked up this book because many other women I admired had spoken about how they were reading this book, found it inspiring, and said it was helping them achieve their dreams.

Okay, I'll give it a crack.

Overview on book

Layout. I appreciated how the book was divided into "Becoming Me", "Becoming Us" and "Becoming More". This set the book up to show a progression, and I was excited to learn how I could also 'become more'. I will say I was struck by the inclusion of her husband, Barack, when reading this book. He already had so many other people talking about him and I was hoping to learn about Michelle, for once. I was eager to read about the life of a woman with so much power and influence globally. Sure, Barack's public image was centred around politics, but what more was there that could be said about him? Quite a bit, I came to learn. I will elaborate on this in another post, perhaps.

As I read, I was fascinated by her humble beginnings and how she used her position to help others. She described the small house she lived in with her parents and her brother, Craig. Her father worked a blue-collar and her parents ensured she had a wholesome upbringing. She eventually ended working in civil service after graduating from Harvard with a degree in Law. And on top of this, she mentored young black women entering the field. The "Becoming More" section inevitably was fast-paced as I rushed through the pages to find out just what more can this woman become? Now First Lady of the United States of America, she ascended to such a high position - and has done so gracefully.

A true example.

My thoughts on prose

Although I have many positive comments to offer on the book, I will say that I was disappointed with its prose; when I learnt that Michelle had been Harvard-educated, worked in the civil service and practised as a lawyer, I was hoping the piece to be written in more interesting prose. It was hard to get into the story (the content of which was fascinating in its own right), however, it was not as gripping as a piece this powerful and potentially far-reaching should be. Why might this be?

Could it be that Michelle was intending to attract a broader audience? Perhaps she is targetting younger girls and therefore needed to make the ideas easy to follow. Perhaps she did not want it to require too many steps to arrive at the intended message. If this is the case, then that is fair enough and I believe the piece fulfils its intended purporse.

Following on from this train of thought, I believe the book is incredibly inspirational for women, especially black women. Michelle talks about her experiences growing up with pride: she writes of her fond memories in the small house on Euclid Avenue; she includes pictures of herself as a young woman (with her hair not done!); she talks about the challenges she overcame in order to get into a good school. I am not sure what it took for her to go against the norms of the role of a First Lady of the White House, but I think it shows bravery. What I believe is more impressive is the merit in her actions. The effects were positive, and she has created lasting change. Her introduction of healthy school meals across schools in the US and promotion of exercise amongst adolescents will have lifelong impacts on this population. I am glad she decided to use her role in this way.

I think this was also a great demonstration of the benefits of having diversity. As the first Black family to hold position in the White House, I believe she brought a fresh new (and representative) perspective on what should be the priorities in a nation such as the United States. Michelle Obama's efforts turned out for the better and I am very greatful for this example.

Thoughts on content

Michelle describes her life, work, experiences with Barack and life as a mother. It was very interesting to read about how she grew up. None of this I expected, and wondered why this was included. I understood much later that this was part of enforcing her point that many other children like her can go on to do great things for America if they just had the opportunity and access that other children had. I particularly enjoyed her comment about how her mother used to dismiss any comments from other people that she and her brother, Craig were special, saying (paraphrased), "...they ain't special. There's plenty of them on Euclid Avenue". Powerful.

Michelle talks about her marriage to Barack. I admit this was an interesting take on the ex-president. Of course I only knew what was said about him on the TV, but Michelle's description of how they dated, tending to the children together and how they related pre- and post- election was valuable for a few reasons.

1. Michelle talks about what she looked for in a partner. Their relationship challenged her in ways that were enjoyable and abstract. It was unlikely that this would diminish over time as things change in their lives, challenges pop up and circumstances threaten the relationship.

2. Michelle talks about how important it was for her to be a mother to her kids. Michelle made it a priority that her daughters received a good education and could develop into young women even with the pressures and dangers of the lives they lived as daughters of the President of the United States. She spoke about how she would do her best to attend school events and learnt how to deal with the inevitable attention she would get from other parents. It did not discourage her from fulfilling duties as a mother to be there for her daughters.

3. Michelle talked about the strain on the relationship pre-campaign. I think it is interesting to read about this take on the presidential campaign. Running for Office seems like no easy feat and you would expect that Barack would need a strong support system to carry him through the campaign. He was essentially in a position to choose between two different lifelong dreams: realizing the vision he had for America and remaining accountable in his relationship to his partner. It is miraculous that he successfully pursued both. I wondered what made Michelle stay. Perhaps it was the foundation of the relationship (point 1). Even in the face of financial difficulty, Barack's optimism in simply saying "I'll write a new book [and sell millions]" is something I still think about often.

4. Michelle talks about how their lives changed with Barack now in office (and how it didn't). She describes how Barack separated work from family life and how she was not involved in his work life, even as his wife. From what she described, it seemed as though although he was President of the United States, to his family he was simply "Dad". Rather remarkable.