Why the “man crush” on Obama?

IT is fair to say that no other President in U.S. history has inspired more “man crushes” than Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States.

Many powerful men adore the President and want to be regarded by the electorate much in the way that he is. For these powerful men, Obama is the man. So they swoon and practically give off heat in his presence. And the media cannot help but exploit that. Reporters seemingly lace their words with satire to point out the love fest.

Take the www.time.com July 25, 2008 news article titled “Obama Gets Love from Sarkozy” written by Bruce Crumley in Paris. The first paragraph reads: “If the Paris meeting in March between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and presumptive Republican president nominee John McCain resembled a warm embrace, Friday’s hookup of Sarkozy and Barack Obama fell just short of hot love. After trading compliments and endearments during an hour-long press conference in the Elysee Palace, the pair wound their session down with Sarkozy coming as close as possible to endorsing Obama for the U.S. presidency without actually doing it.”

Sarkozy is married to former model Carla Bruni. He is also a father. 

And, of course, Obama has Michelle, the First Lady of the United States who is on People magazine’s “most beautiful” list. They have two beautiful daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Nevertheless, the opening passage has homoerotic elements. I have underlined words that I think make this fact obvious. 

The double entendre is also hard to ignore. 

On one hand, the passage says that Sarkozy didn’t make an explicit endorsement although the French President’s partiality toward Obama was made implicit in his interaction with him – an interaction that had been far less tempered than his meeting with John McCain. Then, on the other hand, the passage evokes imagery of a hot make-out session, where the couple stops short of actually “doing it.”

Some of my Sixth Form classmates are rolling their eyes now, for sure, saying, “Val, I always knew you took Delores Ward’s A-level English literature class way too seriously.” 

For the record, yes I did, partly because I loved the late Ms. Delores Ward, a teacher who made an indelible mark on me, along with Mrs. Patrice Mills and Mrs. Blondell Franks, two of my former English and English literature teachers. They inspired me to emulate their prowess over the English language.

So, so what if men gush about Obama? Plenty of people have same-sex crushes that are rooted in a deeply held respect for someone’s ability to teach; lead; charm; debate; persuade; write; speak; dress; mediate; negotiate; deal with a crisis, you name it.

But, I guess what’s so funny is the high TMI [too much information] factor that is often associated with a high-profile man’s revelation of respect for Obama.

In early February 2008, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was discussing Barack Obama’s most recent speech with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann when Matthews said: “I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often.”

For the record, Chris Matthews is married to Kathleen Matthews, an award-winning news anchor. They have three children.

Search for “Chris Matthews Obama tingle” on Google without the quotation marks and you’ll get about 58,000 results. 

Google also has about 713 results for “Obama mancrush” with quotation marks. There are about 510 results on Google for “Obama man crush” with quotation marks around the words and a space between the words “man” and “crush.”

The www.time.com article published on July 25, 2008 came on the heels of two seminal stories.  Jewel Woods wrote the first one. He is a gender analyst specialising in men’s issues. 

On July 18, 2008, his story titled “The Obama Man Crush” was posted on www.theroot.com.  The story sub-title reads: “Sure, women swoon, but have you ever noticed that guys, too, seem almost weak-kneed over the senator with mad skills and a million-dollar smile?”

Then on July 22, 2008, Yobachi Boswell, creator and publisher of www.blackperspective.net continued the dialogue with his story “Man Crush on Obama? Come on!” that said Woods was overreaching.

So, why is there a focus on the phenomenon of “man-crushing” on Obama? Is it a conspiracy or a charge foisted on the U.S. President because he is black? Is it some veiled implication tied to another so-called “black phenomenon,” the down-low?

I want to believe that Barack Obama is the first U.S. President to garner such high-profile discussion and scrutiny in relation to the man-crush because nearly all of his predecessors were not in power in an age where the media bandied same-sex crushes about as a sign of the Zeitgeist or times. In other words, the same-sex heterosexual crush did not come into our lexicon until recent times.

On August 11, 2005, an article by Stephanie Rosenbloom was published in the New York Times.  You can find the story titled “She’s So Cool, So Smart, So Beautiful: Must Be a Girl Crush” online.

In the New York Times article, Rosenbloom refers to “girl crush” as “a phrase that many women in their 20’s and 30’s use in conversation, post on blogs and read in magazines.”

Rosenbloom writes that, “It refers to that fervent infatuation that one heterosexual woman develops for another woman who may seem impossibly sophisticated, gifted, beautiful or accomplished. And while a girl crush is, by its informal definition, not sexual in nature, the feelings that it triggers – excitement, nervousness, a sense of novelty – are very much like those that accompany a new romance.”

In this light, Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas’ giddy declaration at a public meeting – that considered what he would do, if he were not a man and therefore free to pursue Barack Obama, the married President of the United States – becomes more understandable, if not less laughable.    

Prime Minister Douglas admires Barack Obama’s style and substance, and he wants his supporters to know it. In effect, he was saying at that public meeting, “I see the trust and respect that Barack Obama commands, and I want to match and surpass it with my electorate. So vote for me.” 

But, of course, saying it that way wouldn’t have generated the side-splitting laughter, the call-ins to radio talk shows and fodder for this story. 

But, it also wouldn’t have generated the TMI factor. 

But spun creatively by PR flaks, this incident can be used to show that the Prime Minister does not subscribe to “The Less They Know, The Better” Politics. If I were one of those PR flaks, I would run with this.