11 celebrity tweets in favor of Michelle Obama's new girls' rights initiative
#62MillionGirls
Michelle Obama has had an eventful few days in New York City.
She set out for the Big Apple right after helping host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner on Sept. 25, 2015...
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
So that she could hug Beyoncé on stage at the Global Citizen Festival the very next day...
And then get cozy with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show" on Sept. 28, 2015.
But the first lady's Big Apple travels, as you may have guessed, weren't just about hanging out with celebs and posting the evidence online (although, would anyone blame her?). She was there to deliver an important message.
Obama was getting the word out about her new #62MillionGirls campaign, which promotes girls' education around the world.
Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images.
The campaign — launched on Sept. 26, 2015, as a part of Obama's broader Let Girls Learn initiative — is focused on helping more girls around the world complete high school by building awareness and investing in existing government initiatives, like the Peace Corps, to prioritize girls' education. Because that 62 million figure represents a sad reality: the number of girls, globally, who lack access to education.
The first lady wrote about why that number is so disproportionately high:
"Many of [those girls] simply can't afford the school fees, or the nearest school is miles away, and they don't have safe transportation to get there, or maybe there's a school nearby, but it doesn't have adequate bathroom facilities for girls. And for many girls, the obstacles they face aren't just about resources, but about cultural norms and traditions that deem girls unworthy of an education."
A key point of the #62MillionGirls campaign is rallying support from the Internet.
Obama has encouraged supporters to share a photo of themselves telling the world what they learned in school.
And the campaign surely hasn't struggled to get support from Hollywood.
Celebs have tweeted out their support in droves (and many used adorable old school pics to do it). Several of them have been retweeted by the first lady.
Here are some of the best ones:
1. Stephen Colbert
2. Kerry Washington
3. Mindy Kaling
4. Charlize Theron
5. Usher Raymond
6. Bellamy Young
7. Chris Martin
8. Leonardo DiCaprio
9. Hilary Swank
10. Dianna Agron
11. Bono
These pics are more than just celebrity eye candy.
(Although, let's get real: Little Mindy Kaling is just beyond cute.) They represent a vital movement that's near and dear to the first lady's heart.
"As I've traveled the world, I have met so many of these girls — and they are so bright, so determined, and so eager to learn," she wrote. "I see myself in these girls. I see my daughters in these girls. These girls are our girls, and I simply cannot walk away from them."
Join the first lady's campaign by tweeting a photo of yourself and sharing what you learned in school using #62MillionGirls.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."