In a recent editorial for The Times of London, Cherie Blair, the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, offered Michelle Obama some rather pointed advice about what it means to be the wife of a world leader:

You have to learn to take a backseat, not just in public but in private. … You have to try as well, where you can, to share the burden without interfering. You can’t confuse being a sounding board with having influence over decisions. You always have to remember that it is not you who was elected.

Blair goes on to add that she was fortunate enough during her husband’s tenure to continue her career–a commodity she realizes will not be an option for Obama: “But it is something of an irony that in these days of pushing for equality, those married to our political leaders have to put their own ambitions on hold while their spouses are in office, and keep their views to themselves, sometimes, as in my case, even at home.”

Although Obama seems to have embraced her new role, Blair’s observations highlight a passionate debate among women who are divided over whether Obama will use her position to become “a groundbreaking pioneer or a dispiriting symbol of the limitations of modern-day, working motherhood.”

And so while many people have cheered Barack Obama for breaking racial barriers, some argue that his wife remains bound by a traditional role that seems too small for a thoughtful, Ivy League-educated executive. Leslie Morgan Steiner, editor of the anthology of essays titled “Mommy Wars,” which was published by Random House in 2006, argued on National Public Radio’s program “Tell Me More” that Michelle Obama had been “put in a box” and was celebrated in the media only after she decided “to put her family first.”

Champions of Obama, however, say she shouldn’t be deemed a victim for having to step away from her career for a few years to serve as first lady, a stint that will only amplify her future career aspirations. They also argue that Obama–rather than being pigeonholed–will likely use her position to remake the role of first lady. What do you think?