Traditionally the role of the US First Lady is to stand next to the President and, well, look pretty.You can smile, roll out a ladylike laugh and, if you must, occasionally crack the odd joke.What you’re not meant to do is have opinions, or even worse, share them.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Michelle Obama isn’t your average First Lady, though.The Princeton and Harvard Law School graduate is at least as well educated and informed as her husband, and she doesn’t care who knows it.
So, it should come as no surprise that FLOTUS (First Lady Of The United States, duh!) has been doing a little more than sightseeing on her recent trip to China.
Speaking to students at Peking University, Michelle Obama said, ‘It is so important for information and ideas to flow freely over the internet and through the media… When it comes to expressing yourself freely, and worshipping as you choose, and having open access to information – we believe those are universal rights that are the birthright of every person on this planet,’ Mrs Obama told an audience of around 200 students.
She went on to say, ‘My husband and I are on the receiving end of plenty of questioning and criticism from our media and our fellow citizens, and it's not always easy. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.’
Now, this might not sound particularly radical to you, but when you bear in mind that simple social media sites we take for granted, including Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, are all blocked in China, you can see that her stance is both strong and controversial.
While we’re sure the Chinese authorities are less than impressed with her speech, we, as ever, salute her.
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.