Michelle Obama as Slave on Cover of Spanish Magazine Slammed in US
Michelle Obama, current first lady of the United States, was depicted as a slave on the cover of a Spanish magazine, which has caused an uproar.
While Barack Obama is on the campaign trail preparing for the presidential elections in November, his wife was featured on the cover of a Spanish magazine this month as a 19th century French slave. De Fuera de Serie, a magazine in Spain, Photoshopped Michelle Obama's face on a renowned portrait by french painter Marie-Guillemine Benoist.
Benoist's painting originally depicted a french female slave with a headdress, white gown and part of her bare chest exposed. However, Obama's face was superimposed onto the portrait by artist Karine Percheron-Daniels who created a series of "famous nudes," according to the New York Daily News.
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Despite the historical relevance of the Benoist image, some people took to Twitter to express shock and outrage at the cover.
"Michelle Obama as a Slave: Respect Our First Lady, Please," one person tweeted.
Another person thought Obama's picture was worse than the photograph of a naked Prince Harry that went viral recently.
"On the wrongness scale, this magazine cover makes 'Naked Harry' look like an Official Press Release," the person tweeted.
In the Aug. 2012 issue of De Fuera de Serie, an expert from the publication describes their use of the slave depiction of Obama.
"In the shadow of the U.S. President is a person whose popularity ratings exceed those of Barack's own," the excerpt reads in Spanish. "This person is none other than his wife Michelle… To find out how Michelle has managed to seduce the American people . . . [we] detail the secrets of a woman who has not [just] only won the heart of Barack Obama."
Despite some backlash over the Spanish magazine's cover, Percheron-Daniels said she believed Michelle Obama would like the picture.
"I'm sure Obama would love it, and I hope that someday she can see it," the artist said in a New York Daily News report.
