'Women are smarter than men': Michelle Obama tells spouses of African leaders they have a 'responsibility' to bring about change in their countries

The first lady also questioned whe ther young African men 'truly believe that women can be your equal'

Obama said she's focused her outreach to girls on Africa because the continent 'is very personal to me . . . Africa is home for us'

The first lady admitted it's hurtful to be criticized for the work she does on behalf of the country but said it comes with the territory



'All of the arrows and the spears and the criticisms . . they bounce off of you because you keep doing the work every day,' she said

First ladies are not elected officeholders but they should still use their positions of power to effect positive change, Michelle Obama said on Wednesday. After all, they are smarter than their politician husbands, she claimed.



Speaking at a symposium for spouses at the U.S.- Africa Leaders Summit, Obama noted that whether first ladies 'like it or not we are role models' for young women in their country and they have a 'responsibility to show them the way.'

'So we can’t waste this spotlight. It is temporary and life is short, and change is needed. And women are smarter than men,' she stated to laughter and applause from the mostly female audience.



'That just goes without saying,' the event's moderator, Cokie Roberts of NPR, lightheartedly responded.



'And the men can’t complain, because you’re outnumbered today,' Obama replied with a smile.

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Girls Rule, Boys Drool: First Lady Michelle Obama said Wednesday that 'women are smarter than men'

Obama was joined by former First Lady Laura Bush for the conversation, which was co-sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute. The leading ladies held a similar symposium last summer in Tanzania.

'Last year you were still getting blowback about your bangs,' Roberts said at the start of Wednesday's program, teasing Obama.

'Yes, that’s over,' the first lady told her.



'That’s an important issue,' Bush said in jest.

The three women went on to discuss a range of issues, from the first ladies' passion projects, to the important of treating young girls and women with respect.



Referencing a speech she gave last week to young African leaders, Obama said she 'wanted to just implant that notion' that they 'have to approach their work with a whole new attitude.'



'And one of the things I asked the young men is that you have to be introspective and ask yourselves whether you truly believe that women can be your equal.'

'Until we prioritize our girls and understand that they are as important and their education is as important as the education of our sons, then we will have lots of work to do,' Obama said.



Obama later argued that women of the world have to ' fight for our girls.'

'There should never be a girl in this world who has to fear getting educated. That should be something that is intolerable to all of us,' she said, referring to Malala Yousafzai, the young girl who was shot by the Taliban on her way to school in 2012.

The first lady said that when she looks around the world at young women, she sees her daughters. And like her daughters, Obama said she wants those young women to have happy, healthy lives.

'But it's going to take leadership like us, women like us speaking up in our countries and making sure that young girls are not subject to abuse, and that they are loved and valued,' she said. 'And until we do that, we will not solve these problems.'



'Investing in our women,' she said, 'is the most important work that we do.'

'Until we start to value women and girls, we will continue to struggle on this planet,' she added



Obama said she chose to focus her women's initiative on Africa because it is an 'under-valued, under-appreciated continent.'



Drawing on recent remarks that 'blood of Africa' runs through her veins,' Obama explained that another motivating factor is her heritage.



'The importance of Africa is very personal to me because, as the President said last night in his toast, Africa is home for us,' she said. 'His family is there. We have relatives there. We have visited the continent on several occasions. We have taken our daughters back to his grandfather’s village and they have seen a part of themselves.



'So the partnership with this continent means a great deal to us,' she stressed.

First lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush held a conversation on the need to invest in the futures of young girls and women at the U.S. - Africa Leaders Summit yesterday in Washington, D.C.

The two women had a similar symposium in Tanzania last summer. On Wednesday they also discussed the importance of changing attitudes and behaviors toward women and girls, as well

The discussion was moderated by NPR's Cokie Roberts, right, who teased that the last time they all got together Obama was mired in a controversy over her new bangs

The first lady also used the symposium to talk about another issue she's been on the front lines of: childhood obesity.

Roberts joked that Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, must tease their mother about the name of her Let's Move healthy eating and exercise initiative from time to time.

'I must say, with teenage daughters. . . I would suspect that sometimes they say to you, let’s move, mom.'

'Yes, you’ve been sitting at our dining room table, Cokie?' Obama said. 'Well, you know, every teenager has a little smart aleck in them, it’s true.'

Turning serious, Obama said that she and her husband have found that their children really do listen to them. 'They take on these new messages even when we don’t think they’re paying attention.'

'And that’s one of the things that we try to tell parents,' she said, 'you don’t know that they’re listening, but I see how my children make different decisions about what they eat now as teenagers now that they have control because they have the information about how food affects their overall health and their ability to perform.'

The event was part of a portion of the summit for spouses. After the conservation Michelle Obama dined with several first spouses of African countries, including the First lady of Tanzania Salma Kikwete, who sat to her left

Roberts noted that despite having the best of intentions, Obama has 'gotten some blowback' over her campaign.

'I know that you both get into these things and you’re doing them for the good of the country, and suddenly you get criticized for it. And it must just be such a shock in a way,' she said, addressing both Obama and Bush.

'Well, I was not that shocked,' Bush told her.



After having watched her husband's parents' experience in the White House from afar, Bush said she was prepared 'to be characterized in a way that you aren’t, really.'

'And so I don’t think it was any big surprise to me,' she said. 'That doesn’t make it any less hurtful.'

Obama backed her Republican counterpart up, saying her take on criticism directed at the first family is 'absolutely true.'

'And that’s really the role of leadership,' she said. ' It’s not about amassing power; it’s taking some of those hits and continuing to do the work, even when it’s painful and sometimes unappreciated.'

That is why it's important for first ladies to stay focused on their 'vision,' she said.

'Because if you have your vision and you know what you’re passionate about, and you know what direction you’re going in, then all of the arrows and the spears and the criticisms . . they bounce off of you because you keep doing the work every day.'

They might pinch a little bit,' Obama said. 'You might get shot in the eye.

