Michelle Obama has opened up about how one specific body part of hers was ‘weaponised’ against her by the media and critics alike.

Despite being hailed as one of the most popular First Ladies of all time – alongside her husband, Barack Obama, who was in office between 2009 to 2017 – she came under an avalanche of cruel comments, online trolling and baseless speculative theories during her time in the White House.

Michelle, 61, has actually discussed the impact of such treatment in her new fashion photo book, The Look, which was just released this week.

In the new book, Michelle opened up about the many different aspects of her personal style and about how she leveraged fashion to shine a light on causes she deemed most important, including education, military families and children’s health.

She also candidly expressed how the press’s response to certain ensembles she’d wear, specifically ones which showed *shock horror* her arms, affected her.

Michelle Obama has opened up about how the press treated her when she was First Lady in her new book titled The Look (Arturo Holmes / Staff / Getty Images)

One look she donned when accompanying Barack to his first address to a joint session seemed to really send critics into a spiral, with them claiming it was ‘too informal’, ‘inappropriate’ and ‘out of season’.

Other notable headlines included ‘Up In Arms’ as well as ‘Sleevegate’.

Michelle aptly pointed out that previous first ladies, like Jacqueline Kennedy, had worn sleeveless dresses before – but noted that their take on the silhouette never caused what she described as an ‘uproar’, noting that the media and public’s ‘fascination’ with her bare arms was used as a tool to ‘otherize’ her.

“While I am certainly not the only First Lady to get scrutinised – Hillary was constantly dinged for her preference for pantsuits, and Nancy Reagan was lambasted for her love of haute couture – this felt different,” she wrote.

“Barack and I were being portrayed as Black people who didn’t understand the ‘rules’ of the rarefied world we had found ourselves in and were not unequivocally welcomed into.”

Unfortunately, this was just one of many incidents where her style choices were deemed to be ‘un-first lady-like’, Michelle writes.

Michelle described how the media and public’s ‘fascination’ with her bare arms was used as a tool to ‘otherize’ her (Dr. Billy Ingram / Contributor / Getty Images)

Back in 2009, during on a trip to the Grand Canyon to highlight the country’s national parks, Michelle opted for shorts, a tank top, an oversized shirt and hiking trainers – a fit she felt appropriate for both the rugged terrain and hot weather.

However, it’s clear some media outlets took major issue with the, frankly, completely A-OK get-up.

The Washington Post fashion reporter Robin Givhan called the attire ‘common’ in an article which Michelle said she ‘found particularly painful’.

“I’d grown to expect this kind of commentary from men and political opponents, but it was upsetting to me that a fellow Black woman would contribute to the pile-on,” she said. “We were seven months into a brand-new administration, and I was the first Black First Lady trying to find my way.”

The mother of two also mentioned how she had to be careful with her facial expressions after stepping into the public-facing role.

Michelle recalls being told to be ‘careful of my tone and facial expressions’ as First Lady (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

“I was shocked when our communications team shared notes, rather sheepishly, that I should be careful of my tone and facial expressions, because my passion and humour could be weaponised against me,” she recalled.

“I can’t remember the first instance I was described as ‘angry’ by the press, only that it was often enough that articles and academic papers have since been written about the phenomenon.

“While I intellectually understood how that ‘angry Black woman’ trope could be used against me – and frankly, why Black women should be angry – in these instances, I was simply speaking my truth.”

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org.

It wasn’t long before attention turned to Michelle Obama as US President Donald Trump took office again earlier this year, with many who feel, ahem, less than enthused about their current situation looking to her to get Democrats back on White House turf come 2028.

But there’s a key reason why that won’t be happening, and, sadly for her fans, it sounds like her decision is final.

The former First Lady skipped Trump’s January inauguration, citing ‘scheduling conflicts’ as the reason why she couldn’t make it – although it was later reported that she was on holiday in Hawaii, amid claims she didn’t go because she simply didn’t intend to ‘swallow’ her feelings about Trump.

Michelle Obama with husband Barack (Instagram/@michelleobama)

It sounds like Obama is relieved to be able to turn her back on such political duties, having opened up in a new episode of Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast.

“I was so glad when we got out of the White House,” she admitted.

Obama said she grew worried about the idea of raising her daughters Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, in such a high profile environment – her daughters being just nine and seven respectively when dad Barack became president.

“I wanted them to have the freedom of not having the eyes of the world on them,” Obama said.

“They still are dealing with paparazzi and being who they are and trying to carve out their own identity.”

It’s because of this exact reason that she is not tempted to run for president herself.

The Obamas with daughters Malia and Sasha in 2016 (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

“So when people ask me would I ever run, the answer is no,” Obama explained.

“If you ask me that, then you have absolutely no idea the sacrifice that your kids make when your parents are in that role.”

Despite the fact she is a clear favourite among Democrats for the top spot, it’s already been ruled out by the mum-of-two.

“Not only am I not interested in politics in that way but the thought of putting my girls back into that spotlight when they are just now establishing themselves – we’ve done enough,” she stressed.

Obama said the ‘question [has been] asked and answered’ and is ‘never gonna happen’, adding: “They’ve already served their time. … It would be unthinkable. Nope.”

Michelle Obama has long been hailed as one of the United States’ favourite First Ladies.

She took on the role of FLOTUS alongside her husband, Barack Obama, who was in office between 2009 to 2017, and during her time in the White House, she put together an endless array of fashion-forward looks.

And fashion is clearly a big passion of Michelle’s, considering she’s written a whole photo book titled The Look, which was just released today (5 November).

In the new book, which is certain to land a place on many people’s coffee table stacks this year, Michelle opened up about the many different aspects of her personal style and about how she leveraged fashion to shine a light on causes she deemed most important, including education, military families and children’s health.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama has just released a new fashion photo book titled The Look (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

“I really thought about what I wanted to say with my fashion. I wanted to, you know, talk about inclusion, diversity, opening up opportunities, and fashion was one of those tools that allowed me to do that,” she explained on Good Morning America.

“The designers that I chose — there were young designers; there were women designers; there were also immigrant American designers.”

Michelle said that when she chose the ensembles, she was keen to showcase the best designers and the diversity that ‘makes America great’ – something which could be interpreted as a response to current US President Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan.

This has echoed throughout Trump’s second term of presidency, which has since increased ICE raids, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and concern around women’s reproductive freedoms.

“I was able to show the world the outstanding qualities of people who come from different places, with different backgrounds, with different skin colours, from different genders and sexual orientations,” the mother of two added.

Michelle said was keen to showcase the best designers and the diversity that ‘makes America great’ (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)

Michelle – who chose a Taiwan-born, New York-based designer who at the time was in his early 20s and just starting his career to create her first Inaugural Ball gown in 2009 – carried on: “Excellence is not measured that way, and it is true in fashion and in law and in journalism and in research. Let us not forget that.

“And that was the point – to find the best designers, to give them a stage to show the world how great they were.

“That’s what makes America great.”

Reflecting on the current political climate in the States nearly a decade after leaving the White House, Michelle said, “When folks are facing tough economic times, when jobs are scarce, when opportunities seem to be less, [when] it’s harder to get ahead in this economy, it’s easy to have somebody make you think it’s somebody else’s fault, you know?

“So let’s blame the other.”

Michelle hesitated to talk about fashion as First Lady due to concerns her choices would ‘become a distraction’ (Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images)

“I think that’s one of the things we struggle with, but when we look around at truly who has built this country, who keeps it moving, you know, it’s all of us, and all of us is Black, brown, Puerto Rican, Mexican American, Italian, Irish, Haitian,” she continued.

“That’s the story of America, right? And it is the most true in fashion.”

However, despite actively making such statements during her time in the White House, Michelle did admit that she hesitated to talk about fashion as First Lady due to concerns her choices would ‘become a distraction’.

“During my eight years in the White House, although there was a lot of attention given to my fashion, my physical appearance, all of that, I made it a point to shy away from that conversation, because I was worried that it would become a distraction,” she concluded, explaining why she’s chosen now to finally open up about her passion for fasion all these years later.

Michelle Obama has revealed she felt unprepared for life in the White House, and that there were many things she wishes she had known beforehand.

In a bombshell interview withy Steven Bartlett on Diary Of A CEO, Michelle has opened up about everything, from the pain of going through IVF to the realities of political life.

She said they were thrown in at the deep end following Barack’s success with the presidency back in 2008.

Michelle says there are many things she would do differently now if she had the chance.

Michelle has been candid about her life in the White House (YouTube Diary of A CEO)

“I didn’t enough to know what to ask for. I mean, we were flying blind. I didn’t know what that journey was going to be or what I would need to negotiate for myself – and that was a bit problematic,” she confessed.

“It was problematic not to know what I needed,” the former first lady explained.

Steven asked what she should have said.

“I should have said that I needed his team to really, truly value that he had a family,” said Michelle. “I shouldn’t have just said, ‘Well, this is what it takes to get this done.’

She said that many of those surrounding Barack didn’t seem to know what to do with a young family.

“It was almost like the consultants sitting around saying, ‘This is the way it has to be’, and remember, the legacy of the presidential office doesn’t recognise families. It’s not designed for them.”

She said life with a young family was very different than the White House staff were used to (Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images)

“When you get in there, it all revolves around the Commander-in-Chief — who has always been a man. The whole system doesn’t really take into account the wife, the kids, and their needs and the demands placed on them,” explained Michelle.

This unwillingness, or inability, to cater for a young family put a lot of pressure on Michelle to make things work.

“I wound up having to fight for a lot of things on my own. If I had known then what I know now, I would have asked for different accommodations — ways the West Wing just did not think about or work to fully protect all of us as a unit,” she revealed.

The way things were in the White House just weren’t set up to cater for a young family, and Michelle and Barack share two daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Sasha Obama, aged just seven, was the youngest person to live in the White House since John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1961.

Michelle says she has learned a lot since their time in the White House (YouTube/Diary Of A CEO)

Malia Obama was 10 when she moved into the White House.

Michelle recalls: “Even when it came down to how the Secret Service protected us — I had to push for things we needed just to function as a family.

“Maybe Laura Bush knew more than I did. The Bushes had been in the White House before. Maybe there’s a world where people knew more about what to expect than we did.

“But there are also generational differences. I was a very different First Lady — not terribly different from Hillary Clinton, but it was a different time.

“We had small kids in the White House, and that didn’t happen very often. That changed everything.”

She has also confessed in the interview that she used to use physical discipline with her daughters, but then changed her mind and stopped.