Michelle Obama, Kerry Washington & SJP cover Glamour, talk veterans’ issues

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Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Obama and Kerry Washington cover the May issue of Glamour Magazine. It’s a nice shot, but my first reaction was “surely at least one of these ladies is superfluous?” Kerry Washington is famously friendly with the Obamas, and SJP is a big Democratic Party fundraiser (she’s hosted big fundraisers at her home in New York). But there was a question mark (for me) about this cover. As it turns out, Kerry, SJP and FLOTUS are trying to draw attention to servicewomen, veterans and military wives for Memorial Day.

You can read the Glamour piece here – Michelle Obama does most of the talking, and her focus is on the women attached to military service and the four year anniversary of her initiative, Joining Forces.

Sarah Jessica Parker on military women: I feel like there’s a laundry list of issues they face…. Being a working mother, serving, returning from Iraq or Afghanistan—I almost don’t know where to begin…. And I feel intimidated by their service; I feel ashamed that I haven’t served. So I almost feel like I’m patronizing by inquiring how to help. When you see a serviceman or -woman, you always—I always—say, “Thank you for your service.” But you know that’s not enough…. What do we do? Every community has a community of veterans. Where do we begin?

FLOTUS on veterans’ mental health: “One thing I want to clarify—that every service member, veteran, wants us to remember—is that the vast majority of people returning from service come back completely healthy…. But when we do come across someone who is struggling…we have to develop a culture of open arms and acceptance so that they feel comfortable saying, “I’m a veteran. And by the way, I need little help.” This is something we need to do in this country around mental health as a whole—destigmatizing mental health.

[From Glamour]

It’s a nice read and I admire and respect the cause they’re championing. That being said, it would have been just as effective to put Michelle Obama on the cover solo, you know? She has been deeply involved with military families since Pres. Obama came into office.

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Photos courtesy of Glamour.

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22 Responses to “Michelle Obama, Kerry Washington & SJP cover Glamour, talk veterans’ issues”

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  1. Maya says:

    Wonderful topic to campaign for and even though I love Michelle, putting her alone on the cover would not get the same reach. Unfortunately we live in a world were celebs have more media power than politicians and other humanitarian workers.

    I do wish that one of them could have mentioned the first female general Ann Dunwoody, first black woman to become general Rosetta Burke and first woman to receive the Silver star Monica Lin Brown. These women have changed the face of military especially the US military.

    • It is what it is says:

      Well said Maya, celebrity obsessed is right.

    • morc says:

      Michelle Obama is not aa politician, she’s married to one.

      • Gea says:

        Thank you, I was just about to say that. So why not put others, like real women who do represent military. This really doesn’t make any sense, SJP especially.

    • perplexed says:

      For some reason, I think of Michelle Obama has having more celebrity power than Sarah Jessica Parker. I mean, I know SJP was a big thing in the Sex and the City days, but is she now? I think of Michelle Obama as the bigger “celebrity” (even though that’s not what she really is).

      • lucy2 says:

        I think so too. There probably are celebrities that draw more attention/magazine sales than Michelle Obama, but I’m doubting that SJP is one of them. Maybe not Kerry either.
        I love that the military and their families have been a focus of Mrs. Obama’s time, and that these actresses are stepping up to help with the cause too.

  2. FLORC says:

    Love them. Love the message. Love the positive impact FLOTUS has had on this issue. Once it’s no longer in the news people forget about it like we have goldfish memory spans. Hate the photoshop.

  3. cocoa says:

    Add Viola Davis

  4. minx says:

    FLOTUS can do no wrong.

    SJP, however, needs to ditch that center part and the eyeliner.

    • V4Real says:

      I think I’m in the minority on C/B when it comes to SJP. I just don’t find her attractive but on this cover I think she looks really good.

      Glad to see other celebs publicly getting involved in these matters no matter how big or small they’re stardom might be .

    • Coconut says:

      Don’t understand how SJP thinks small looking squinty eyes is attractive.

  5. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    I love and respect this cause so much. I think the numbers regarding emotional problems of veterans may have been downplayed a little to avoid making it sound like service=emotional problems but that’s a minor point.

    On a shallow note, I think Michelle Obama is prettier than that cover picture.

  6. HoustonGrl says:

    From a PR perspective, this is brilliant.

  7. Just Me says:

    Good. And I’m glad they put celebs on the cover. The cause isn’t new. Maybe people will start paying attention now that Carrie Bradshaw and Olivia Pope are on the cover of Glamour talking about it.

    And maybe then people will start thinking for themselves and realize the cost of us vs them politics. And maybe then they’ll pay attention to election time rhetoric and elect officials into office who vow to work with their counterparts (even if they disagree with them) and vow to do whatever it takes to NOT cause government shutdowns that cause automatic defense budget cuts that gut our military.

    The very military everyone is always talking about they support so much.

    But I’m not bitter or anything.

  8. FingerBinger says:

    I like the cover. However ,if we’re talking military and veterans it might have been more effective to have veterans with Michelle Obama instead of Kerry and SJP.

  9. lia says:

    Michelle is beautiful. Sarah is beautiful. Kerry is beautiful…with thoughtful, well considered opinions expressed here.