Former First Lady Michelle Obama is raising eyebrows again — not for stepping into politics, but for what she says is a persistent double standard when it comes to confidence between young men and young women.
On the latest episode of her “IMO” podcast — which she co-hosts with her brother Craig Robinson — Obama sat down with actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus to talk about aging, confidence, and the subtle ways society sidelines women, especially as they grow older.
“We’re always hedging,” Obama said. “Because in the back of our minds, we weren’t raised with the certainty of maleness — the kind of confidence that young men in their 30s have, which they haven’t earned. They just have it.”
Let that sink in. According to the former First Lady, men — particularly young ones — carry around a confidence they don’t deserve, while women have to wait until their 50s or 60s to feel sure of themselves. And by then? “We start to be treated as invisible in society,” Obama added.
The conversation was sparked by Louis-Dreyfus recounting her friendship with Jane Fonda, noting that older women who’ve lived full, extraordinary lives often fade from the public conversation. Obama agreed and pushed further, saying society “pushes women out of the picture” once they age out of their perceived usefulness in pop culture.
Later in the podcast, Obama opened up about her own shift in mindset since turning 60.
“This is really the first time in my life where I feel completely me,” she said. “I can absolutely embrace my wisdom. We spend most of our lives saying, ‘Well, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.’ We qualify everything.”
Louis-Dreyfus jumped in: “We apologize.”
Obama echoed it: “We apologize. We don’t want to put our opinions on the table because maybe we’re wrong.”
It’s not the first time Obama has tackled tough cultural themes on her show, but her approach has largely avoided partisan politics. In earlier episodes, she’s focused on parenting, family values, and cultural responsibility — urging parents not to befriend their children too early, and pressing the need for limits on smartphones and social media in a tech-dominated childhood.
“We’ve got to get tougher,” she said in a June episode with author Jonathan Haidt. “A lot of parents do what’s easy for them, and not necessarily what’s best for the kid.”
