Dress and decorum

In short, it was about short shorts. As photos of US first lady Michelle Obama wearing shorts on a private visit to the Grand Canyon were splashed across the media, it sparked a controversy on whether the US first lady was entitled to dress in a relaxed manner on an unofficial visit or should she always dress according to her status.
This was not the first time that Michelle Obama had outraged fashion purists and moralists. Earlier, Michelle’s official portrait had drawn some criticism as it showed her bare-armed and splendidly muscled, too.
Some people were quick to dismiss the criticism — a poll by a newspaper of 13,000 readers found close to three-fifth supporting her, one-fourth advising slightly longer shorts and less then a fifth saying that she should dress “appropriately.”
What makes the whole issue a little bizarre is that the debate is taking place in the US — one of the most casual countries in the world where dr-essing is concerned. Though they may have originated elsewhere, jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts and Bermudas were all popularised by the Americans.
The debate could also have a gender angle. Perhaps, no eyebrows would have been raised had Ba-rack Obama himself appeared in shorts, (which he did in some pictures), but his wife is not allowed to do so.
Michelle Obama is no stranger to controversy. In April, her brief “touch” of Queen Elizabeth II drew flak from traditionalists for breach of protocol — the monarch is not to be touched, they said.
However, the entire issue is about celebrities, especially women.
Will society allow them to forget their status once in a while and appear as normal people do or do they always have to adhere to a ‘fixed’ unwritten code of conduct?