Body Language Photo: The Obamas

Regular readers know that I'm a student of body language and facial coding. This photo taken on St. Patrick's Day, before an event honoring Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen's visit to the White House and the Day with Irish-American leaders, jumped out at me. It's part of Time's "Obama's 100 Days: Behind-The-Scenes Photos" gallery:

President Obama's body language says: "Girl, I'm loving you in this dress! You know you'll always be my First Lady. I love being close to you. My personal space is your personal space. I can't wait until after this St. Paddy's event is over..."

First Lady Michelle Obama's body language says: "Negro, I'm not sure if I like you pushing up on me in front of these cameras. You're kinda invading my personal space. And get your hand off my butt before the Irish Prime Minister and his wife show up!"

Luckily we've seen other photos where Mrs. Obama's body language toward her husband is open (although critics do make a fair point that he publicly shows significantly more affection than she does), because she looks uncomfortable in this photo. She's even doing her typical self-comforting-gesture-with-her-hands thing.

Compare Mrs. Obama with how the 1st Lady of Belize Kim Simpliss-Barrow (who recently married the country's first black prime minister) received President Obama when they met at the recent Summit of the Americas, another body language situation that caught my eye.