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Question of the Week: Thoughts on Obama’s Barnard Commencement Speech from Partygoers Hugh Dancy, Patrick Wilson, Gavin McInnes and More

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By Velvet Roper staff 5/18/12 3:41pm

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President Obama delivered the commencement address to almost 600 female grads of Barnard College on Monday, and spent the bulk of the speech enthusiastically encouraging the young women to “fight for a seat at the head of the table.” But he attributed the guidance that garnered the most cheers from the audience to First Lady Michelle: you can look good and be at the top of your professional game.

So, during our week out on the town, we asked everyone we ran into:

What did you think of Obama’s advice to young professional women that they can be “stylish and powerful”?

Herewith, an array of reactions from Hugh Dancy, Mary McFadden, Patrick Wilson, Mark Ruffalo, and Gavin McInnes (who, naturally, embraced the opportunity to make an Oprah joke).
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Obama at Barnard
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Hugh Dancy at screening of Hysteria

“My first thought is, ‘That's obvious, does this point even need to be made?’ But the sad thing is it does need to be made. It isn't obvious that women should be equal in the workplace.”
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Mary McFadden at the Lapham's Quarterly Decades Ball

"They're smart girls if they got into Barnard. All they have to do is stop by the windows at Bergdorf Goodman. "
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Patrick Wilson at screening of Hysteria

“Um... isn't that already the case? [Obama] should visit New York more often.”
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Mark Ruffalo at The Common Good cocktail party

"Why is the conversation about women and fashion and power? Look around you: the men paid thousands of dollars for those suits to look powerful. If a woman wants to dress up fashionably in the workplace, that's it's own form of power."
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Gavin McInnes at the Lapham’s Quarterly Decades Ball

"How about I tell you a joke instead. You probably heard Michelle Obama was annoyed that Oprah was in the White House wanting to help on her crusade for healthy eating. Talk about the elephant in the room."