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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 10, 2025

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There are those odd particular clips of Michelle. I think her masculinity, Joan Rivers' "timely" death, and the combination of categorical disbelief ("even faker and gayer . . . ") in the establishment and the easy dunk makes it work equally well for the genuine skeptic and the troll. But leave it to Steve Sailer of all people to make what I've found as the most interesting observation:

It's been the bane of Michelle Obama's life that even though she has feminine interests such as gardening and nutrition and little political ambition for herself, she inherited her older brother's gigantic power forward shoulders, so Joan Rivers joked about her being a man.

(The siblings.)

And worth including, though you can just see it in the link, is this thoughtful response:

I think that's why some women I know absolutely love Michelle, though.

She looks like a "strong, independent woman." But then they read her book and find out she's actually a girlie girl, and it appeals both to what women find inherently appealing and feminist socialization.

Here I'd follow this up with "I still wouldn't put it past them," but that's epistemically always betting on black. Sailer's observation is useful, I cite it now in the two or three times I've seen this come up since.