A Fine Line
Does media portrayal of teen mothers help destigmatize the issue for the unfortunate who end up pregnant? Or does it somehow legitimize premarital sex? Readers weigh in.
The Glamorous Life of a Teen Mom?
7/18/08: As movies and TV cover teen pregnancy, one young mother explains how having a baby changed her life. (Video: Jessica Bloustein)
Two weeks ago, NEWSWEEK asked if the OK! Magazine cover and feature story featuring 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears and her new baby glamorized teen pregnancy. Our question elicited more than 2,000 comments and e-mails from teens and parents, debating how the media has covered the Spears pregnancy and teenage pregnancy in general. Did OK! help teen mothers by destigmatizing the issue? Or did it recklessly spread the message that being a pregnant teen is, well, OK.
A slight majority of readers felt that OK! made teen parenting look too fun and effortless. "I am outraged at the glamorization of teenage pregnancy by the media, especially magazines like OK," wrote a commenter with the user name lgatze. "I think the media need to take better responsibility as to how they present stories like these … The reality of teen pregnancy is harsh. Movies, magazines and other media need to clean it up."
But a sizeable number came away with the opposite reaction: this story was good for teen moms because it gave them a positive image to look toward, one that they rarely see. Aanoliliel wrote that the cover "showed it to its readers who are at this age so they don't feel 'dirty' when/if they do get pregnant." It could make teens more comfortable telling their parents, potentially increasing access to early, prenatal care, she continued. "The fact that so many don't feel comfortable telling their parents/adults when they do become pregnant should send a clear signal to parents as a warning sign that this country is screwed up."
A good number of teen moms drew from their own parenting experiences and came to disparate conclusions. Many praised the cover for showing a rare example of a successful teen mother. Mandymama, a 28-year-old former teen mother (and college graduate) wrote, "I think it's nice to see a story about a young woman who got pregnant and took responsibility. Also, the man took responsibility as well. Refreshing, positive morals … if it happens, it is not the end of the world. You can live a perfect, happy, normal life and still be the best person that you can be."
The teen parents who criticized the story largely felt that it did nothing to represent the difficulties they themselves had faced. "Her story does not show the true hardship that pregnant teen mothers face," wrote jcoles2, a former teen mom who is now 31. "Being a teen mother makes life difficult at best … the first time an adult talked to me about these things I was already 6 months pregnant at 15." Kieryjohns25 added, "I had a baby at 16, it was NOT easy, I did NOT look radiant and beautiful."
Readers hit on a very fine line in the teen-pregnancy debate: how do you accurately convey the difficulties and disadvantages of teen parenting while not, at the same time, shunning the 400,000 American teens who, for the past three decades, have given birth every year? Experts interviewed by NEWSWEEK quickly admit that there's no easy answer. "Part of me thinks it's better to normalize [teen pregnancy] because it makes it easier for those moms to be more accepted," says Andrea O'Reilly, founder and director of the Association for Research on Mothering at York University in Toronto. "But then at the same time you worry you might be romanticizing teen pregnancy, setting up a girl for something she's not ready for. I think that's a fine line that we can't get rid of." O'Reilly ideally would like to see more honest portrayals of teen parents in the media. When asked specifically about the Jamie Lynn Spears cover, she says, yes, she would keep the magazine out there. "I still think it's moving us in the right direction; we're talking about it," O'Reilly explains. "I know it makes everything look easy, and that's a problem, but nonetheless people are talking about it so that can't be a bad thing."
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Member Comments
Posted By: tranya55 @ 08/10/2008 3:13:16 AM
Comment: Hooray for curch-40 who obviously has self-respect and a work ethic! Good luck to you and since you are obviously educated, please consider carefully the concept of "planned parenthood", with emphasis on the "planned". However, as a child and family therapist contracted to Child Protective Services, the unfortunate statistics indicate that there is very little to celebrate about young people having children, and I'm confused and terrified at the current climate of childbearing-as cool in this country today. Unfortunately, for most young people, or rather, most PEOPLE regardless of age, pregnancy is merely a side-effect of having unprotected sex. I won't list the ramifications of having children when one is not prepared--you can find this info on the net. And trust me, emotionless statistics cannot begin to describe the issues for these children-it's much worse in real life. The major point I want to make is WHY IS THERE ALWAYS SO MUCH FOCUS ON TEEN MOTHERS????? The last time I checked, it takes two to reproduce (o.k., except for fertility procedures). Why do we not also discuss the young (or older) men who contributing sperm to the equation? In my practice, more often than not, young girls are having sex early because of some or combinations of any of the following reasons: 1. to keep the boyfriend happy and attached to her (oh, and by the way, having his baby is also supposed to make him stay-right......); 2. peer pressure, being cool, getting lots of attention from boys, etc; 3. the young mom was sexually abused as a child; the young mom's family of origin was very chaotic, with usually some combination of addiction/violence/neglect/mental illness/etc, etc. It's starting to sound like these girls are victims, right? Well, the young men didn't have it any easier, but in our society we parents expend an incredible amount of effort trying to keep our daughters from getting pregnant, but our young men are not taught self-control, personal responsibility, etc. It's usually, "boys will be boys", and a secret sigh of relief frol Dad because his kid's not gay. In fact, some families actively encourage their sons to get out there and conquer! I have seen several cases where an older brother/cousin/uncle will show an 11, 12, 13 year old boy XXX rated porn as a way to man-him-up. Well, the technical term for that is sexual abuse. Anyway, thanks for listening, and please, let's also hold these young men accountable as integral partners in the lifelong endeavor called parenthood!
Posted By: Dangerous Thoughts @ 08/05/2008 2:06:27 PM
Comment: I honestly don't think it is acceptable at all to say Jamie Lynn Spears is a shining example of a teenage mom, cuas she has enough money so she doesn't have to work, like she gets it pretty easy, but what about all the other teen moms? there's about 30 expecting and already teenager moms at my school. None of them have had a "fun time in teenage parenthood" like Jamie Lynn Spears. I think it's wrong to condem teenage moms and most of them are doing a great job, but to exalt Spears for getting pregnant as a teenager too and saying that she is a new role model or demographic is nothing but ridiculous
Posted By: iwillmakeit @ 08/02/2008 9:59:25 PM
Comment: TInawith2cats: I think it is BS that you say your nephe will never be able to go to college. I had my first child when I was 17 and my husband wen to college straight after HS and I am now attending college. I believe we probably made it though because we had a loving and supporting family that NEVER put us down but pushed us to accomplish more. Maybe you can be the aunt that pushes her nephew to never give up.