How Michelle Obama dealt with trolls criticising her looks as first lady

Michelle Obama has been in the public eye for almost 20 years, after her husband Barack Obama started running for US president in February 2007.

The Princeton graduate spoke to Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast about the unfair standards women were held to, especially in the public eye.

Obama, who turned 62 at the weekend, said she was embracing ageing and being comfortable in her own skin but faced serious criticism during her years as first lady from 2008 to 2016.

Watch the video above.

"Yeah, it would hurt more coming from a woman because it's like, 'Wow, you know what we're going through'," Obama said in the episode, which was released on Wednesday.

"But, here's what helps me ... in order to keep myself sane in the midst of this on all levels, I just try to wonder what's going on in the mind of the person who can go there.

"And when I think about women attacking women, it is always rooted in the insecurity and lack of self-esteem that is rampant in our culture.

"We're set up to feel badly about ourselves and then to turn against ourselves and then to turn on each other ... so I try to humanise my victimiser."

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The author appeared on the popular podcast to promote her new book The Look, which details how Obama intentionally used fashion during her years as first lady to send different messages and control the narrative.

"The first thing, after all this great conversation and connection, the top of the article would be, 'she was wearing…' - not my education, not my professional career but it started with appearance, and it got worse as we got better," she said.

Life on the campaign trail in 2007, was a real eye-opener she said, while wearing a Meredith Koop original design re-creating her famous university days outfit.

"I went to Princeton and Harvard. I mean, I practised law. I was an assistant to the mayor in Chicago. I ran a nonprofit of 501. I was a vice president for community relations at the University of Chicago Hospitals. I was the dean of students," she said.

"I was like, 'Oh, you guys, all of that just disappeared in the course of this whole election and you now see me as just Barack Obama's wife'.

"Quickly my shoes become the most important thing about me ... And again, that's not unique to me, it can happen to the best of us."

During the wide-ranging chat, Obama also touched on the importance of female friendships and women supporting women.

She also said she wouldn't want her husband to run for a third term in office, even if that was an option - taking a dig at US President Donald Trump who has often floated the idea of changing the laws to allow him to stay in the White House.

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