Average Looking Michelle Obama Makes Maxim's "Hot" List

AP:

For the first time the US First Lady has made Maxim magazine's annual top 100 list of "hottest women in the world," with Michelle Obama making the grade at number 93.

Billed as the "stimulus package America really needs," the British-based international magazine known for revealing pictorials of models and actresses showcases Obama in her tasteful official White House portrait.

In the rare accolade for a political spouse, the magazine notes that her husband President Barack Obama "may be dealing with two wars, an economic meltdown, and a rapidly graying dome.

"But at least our Commander in Chief gets to come home to the hottest First Lady in the history of these United States."

Obama has been hailed as a style icon by fashionistas around the world since her husband was elected president.

Maxim's self-described "eyeball-searing, fantasy-fulfilling, brain-exploding" list has Obama topping "Top Chef" host and model Padma Lakshmi (#95) and Oscar-winning "Wrestler" star Marisa Tomei (#97).

Good to see that the media's fawning of Michelle Obama stretches overseas. No, not good. Michelle Obama is NOT hot--by any stretch of the imagination. I mean has anyone seen this woman without makeup--believe me, it's not a pretty site. And how could she possibly rank ahead of Padma Lakshmi (whose natural beauty I've witnessed in person), the idea that the average dude on the street would go after Michelle Obama ahead of Lakshmi is ludicrous.

Bottom line, the press' obsession with Michelle Obama has gotten way beyond tired. Sure, title dictates behavior--Michelle's First Lady status is going to make her a public spectacle. I understand that. But the more I think about it, the more one gets the feeling that the mainstream press' continued fawning over the First Black First Lady has more to do with their own insecurities/guilt regarding race. In other words the fact that Black women (esp. darker-skinned ladies) in general have rarely, over the years, gotten their share of credit regarding what's "hot" as compared to their white counterparts--just ask any Black supermodel, from Beverly Johnson to Naomi Campbell to Tyra Banks, whose ever had to deal with racism in the model industry. Just look at whose on the cover of your average men's magazine. So why not take an average-looking First Lady, who happens to be Black, kill two birds and make her into the next coming of Halle Berry?

Yeah, that makes sense.