Michelle Obama Gets Frank About Women ‘Leaning In’: ‘That Sh-t Doesn’t Work All the Time’

Former First Lady Michelle Obama offered a candid assessment of the reality of trying to balance a marriage and a career and the idea of ‘leaning in.'”

“Marriage still ain’t equal, y’all. It ain’t equal. I tell women that whole ‘you can have it all’—mmm, nope, not at the same time,”  Mrs. Obama said at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night. “That’s a lie. And it’s not always enough to lean in, because that shit doesn’t work all the time.”

The crowd erupted.

Mrs. Obama then said she forgot where she was a bit when she said “shit.”

As New York magazine noted, ‘leaning in’ is a strategy touted by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in her book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. The book encourages women to assert themselves more in the workplace and not voluntarily give up career advancement to make room for marriage and family roles.

Mrs. Obama, however, made it clear that doesn’t always work.  What does work, she noted, was finding people that believe in her even if it doesn’t come from the places where you might expect it.

After the death of former President George H.W. Bush, Mrs. Obama announced that she is canceling some of her book tour stops to be where she was needed in the days ahead.