In a country where women are sometimes treated worse than second class citizens, The First Lady of the United States sent a powerful message when she visited Saudi Arabia with her husband on Tuesday. The pictures say it all!
There she was, standing side-by-side with her husband as he stepped off Air Force One in Riyadh today, where, during a brief visit, the president offered condolences for the recent death of King Abdullah and met with his successor, King Salman.
The first lady accompanied the president throughout the stay, embodying some of the reforms that her husband is pushing the country to adopt.
Wearing pants and her head uncovered, Mrs. Obama stood dutifully beside her husband as he shook hands with the Saudi delegation on the airport tarmac this morning and again at Erga Palace on the outskirts of Riyadh.
At times she reached out to shake an occasional hand, but mostly she stood back and offered just a smile.
According to reporters traveling with the president, due to the cultural constraints, the first lady purposely stood slightly behind her husband and waited for a gesture to be made to her by the men in the receiving line. If one of the men initiated a handshake she returned, if not then she simply smiled or nodded politely.
