Despite what you may have heard, Michelle Obama not wearing a headscarf during her recent trip with her husband to Saudi Arabia for King Abdullah’s funeral was not some intentional protests against the country’s treatment of women. In fact foreign women are not held to the same laws that Saudi women are, and only have to wear modest clothing while in public.
Michelle Obama is not the first woman to forgo a headscarf in the presence of Saudi leaders, she is in fact only the most recent woman in a long line of powerful American women to do so.
So can we all calm down?
If you won’t listen to us, maybe you’ll listen to twitter:
. @ABC Western women not required to veil in Saudi Arabia; #FLOTUS dressed appropriately. http://t.co/3dY6Ph86FS
— Maggie Jordan (@MaggieJordanACN) January 28, 2015
Well, well, what have we here…
Former #FLOTUS Laura Bush, not veiled.
#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled pic.twitter.com/WAITSNuqzF
— Maggie Jordan (@MaggieJordanACN) January 28, 2015
More of “Well, well, what have we here”
Condoleezza Rice, not veiled.
#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled pic.twitter.com/zLUbYDx0wO
— Maggie Jordan (@MaggieJordanACN) January 28, 2015
A third “Well, well, what have we here”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, not veiled
#Michelle_Obama_NotVeiled pic.twitter.com/jHHncAv8fF
— Maggie Jordan (@MaggieJordanACN) January 28, 2015
So those who think Michelle Obama was really revolutionary while not wearing a headscarf during her saudi visit, meh pic.twitter.com/9YwwoJ5EDo
— Sherry (@CherieDamour_) January 28, 2015
Michelle Obama’s choice to not wear a headscarf is not a matter of democrat vs. republican debate; Laura Bush made the same choice in 2006
— Adriana (@auuuuuuuy) January 28, 2015