And I am just about to tell you why Italians like Michelle Obama in shorts: because it makes her, as people have said, “One of us!”
The trend is changing
I think quite a number of staunch conservative Americans prefer to see their First Lady, in an attire more fitting, more decorous, more prestigious, call it what you will- but it boils down to some people prefer to distant those belonging to “the powers that be” from the rest of humanity. People always have had this desire for a “higher being” to rule over them- history is crammed full of such events. Kings, Emperors, Rajas, Shahs, Presidents, Dictators, even religious leaders, Popes, Patriarchs, Ayatollahs... have I left anybody out... have all maintained their distance from the people, either by their own preference or that of their subjects.
People in the 20th Century set the pace
However, the last century has seen a swing towards the other way on the method people have won overwhelming crowds, not by some fad of stardom nor because they were on a superior level of society but because they approached the crowds instead. Ever wondered what Michelle Obama, Princess Diana, Mother Theresa, Winston Churchill, John Paul II, Mahatma Gandhi, and even Silvio Berlusconi have in common? They have all won over the crowds by becoming ONE OF US.
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