Michelle Obama shares the Barack Obama trait she says every boy should see

Former First Lady Michelle Obama held up her husband, former President Barack Obama, as a defining example of what a male role model should look like. "He's a tough guy. He doesn't cry much, but he has learned to let his emotions go because he knows he needs to show young men that that's okay, too. It's okay to love your wife forever. It's okay not to cheat and lie. It's okay not to be a baller. It's okay to be sad when sad things happen and not have to suck it up all the time," she said in an interview with MS Now's Michele Norris.

Obama, who has been on the media circuit promoting the Obama Presidential Center, said what makes a man is the broadness and depth of his character. "How will boys know that if they don't see it?" she asked, noting that the world is at an inflection point with several discussions about masculinity. "What you feel in those conversations is that men struggle just as much as we do in figuring out who they are and where they find their place," she added.

The 62-year-old noted that society has done a good job of expanding the possibilities for women and girls, but argued the same progress has not been extended to men and boys. "I don't think we've done an equal justice to opening the aperture for what our men and boys can be. There's still a very narrow definition of what it means to be a man—you got to win, you got to be tough, you got to be strong, don't let them see you hurt, you got to make money, got to dominate," she said.

The 'Becoming' author told Norris that men come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. "There are a lot of young men who are born to create, born to nurture. There are young men who are wonderful child psychiatrists who can empathize and help people find their voice. But if all they're rewarded for is win, throw the ball, catch the ball, beat up, make money—how sad it is for the majority of men and boys who don't naturally fall into that. Those are narrow categories of what being a man is, and how sad and lonely that must be for them," she lamented.

The remarks came as Michelle Obama stepped back into the public eye to champion the newly opened center, using the platform to speak directly to Barack's personal character amid rumours of marital discord and infidelity. At the center's opening, she also praised his "stubborn optimism" in the face of claims that a US senator and constitutional law expert wasn't qualified for the highest office in the land. "The lies about your birthright, your faith, your patriotism; yet you were unflappable at every turn," she averred.