Michelle Obama talks gender equality in Montreal
MONTREAL— It’s time for a revolution in the way women are treated in our societies, from the youngest of girls, to budding professionals, to experienced business leaders being considered or passed over for corporate boards and executive posts.
That was the message former first lady Michelle Obama brought to Montreal in one of the few appearances she has made since she and former U.S. president Barack Obama left the White House last year.
She spoke of confronting and overcoming prejudice, sexism and her own insecurities to become a successful woman, and about her eight years in the world’s spotlight.
And she said it is up to adults — particularly the business leaders present at Montreal’s Palais des congrès — to ensure young girls are encouraged, challenged and given the same opportunities as young boys. But it is also up to young people themselves.
“I urge young people to take school seriously,” she said. “On this one, please listen to your parents and get as much education as you can.”
Throughout her own educational career, which took her to Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Obama said she was continuously made to feel she was somehow lacking what it took to succeed, something she attributed to her gender and her skin colour.
“I was confident, but there was always that doubt in the back of my mind. But I had enough confidence in me to push through that. I got into Princeton and then I realized, what was the big deal about this place? I’m just as smart as this guy sitting next to me,” she said.
“The more I achieved, the more tables I got to sit around and measure myself against others, the more I realized that this stuff isn’t so hard and I’m actually very capable.”
This mindset is slowly changing for women, but how fast the change occurs is ultimately up to men who must make room in executive offices and at board tables, Obama said.
Tatiana Nazon, 47, and daughter Kimsha Pierre, 23, were among those who came to hear Obama speak, calling her an inspiration. Nazon said she would like to see Obama continue exerting her influence in the political arena by running for office. But during her appearance, Obama flatly rejected such calls.
“I’m not running for anything. Politics is not in my future,” she said near the end of a Q&A session before the audience of 10,000, mostly women. “My passion is not politics. My passion is social change.”
In her post-politics life, Obama is championing education and the empowerment of women and girls. Her memoirs are soon to be published, and the Obama Foundation is being created to continue the work the couple have championed.
Obama kept circling back to these issues during her talk, though she also took a couple of thinly veiled digs at her husband’s successor in the Oval Office, Donald Trump.
“The presidency doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are,” she said, as the crowd erupted in laughter and cheers. “It’s like being thrown into the ocean . . . If you can’t swim, the ocean will reveal that because you fall back and when you’re in stress, all you have is who you are.”