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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.

Photos courtesy of Glamour.
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