Let’s talk about teen pregnancy. According to dosomething.org, there are near 750,000 of them each year and it’s the top reason teen girls drop out of school. It dramatically decreases their chances of earning a college degree but is a surefire way to earn the glares of peers and strangers alike and the condemnation of society at large.
Now let’s talk about these ads pictured above. Take note of its targeting of teen girls, and teen girls alone. What about teen boys? Are they not contributors to the pregnancy? Are they not 50% of the equation? And why are we asking only what happens to these hypothetical children rather than what happens to the mother as well? Because it doesn’t look good for her.
And why are we so sure that teen moms will fail? Why are they deemed unsuitable for motherhood? I know it’s not the right time in life to have a child, but given that, for some, having the baby is the only option, I think it’s unfair to assume they can’t do it. Because of course they can, with support and hard work. We should commend them for making such a brave decision and for giving up their own needs for someone else’s. I’m not suggesting we glorify teen pregnancy or praise the teens who have the misfortune of becoming parents at such a young age, but we definitely shouldn’t be making it harder for them.
I suppose the worst case scenario is what has been taken into consideration by the makers of the ads; after all, girls do often get left by the father, they do often have to set aside their own needs entirely to care for the child, and they do struggle to raise them. Being a parent isn’t easy, so of course it’s harder when you’re not ready. But these ads feel like more of an attack than like a reminder of how scary teen motherhood can be.
Finally, I have to ask what the message here is exactly. Where is the proposed solution? There is no mention of safe sex, or even abstinence. This does not appear to be an advertisement for an adoption agency or women’s health care center or abortion clinic. So what are they getting at? What’s the point? Because all I see is yet another attack on young girls. Yet again, we’re trapped in a corner with no way out, with no way to please the crowd.
Think about it. Say you’re a pregnant teenage girl. To kick things off, you’re shamed for ever having had sex in the first place. Because in this fair world of ours, sex instantly turns teen girls into tainted, promiscuous sluts. Now you have a choice to make: abortion, adoption, or braving the waters of parenthood? Choose abortion and you’re not only a slut, but now a heartless, immoral baby killer. It doesn’t matter that it’s your body, that it’s nobody’s business but yours, or that you may have had a deeper reason beyond not being ready to birth a child. Congrats, you just earned yourself the condemnation of everyone you know.
Now let’s say you chose to keep the kid. According to these advertisements, that’s the most selfish thing you could have done. Who cares that you’re giving up your future for this baby? You screwed up, baby daddy left, and it’s all your fault that your child has to pay! Yes, this is an unfair situation for everyone. But it doesn’t always have an unhappy ending, and it doesn’t ever have to. Why can’t we support the teen parents who do choose to keep their baby? Why can’t we offer our help? Why do we have to blame the mom for any and all errors? The situation is a trap. No decision a young pregnant girl makes is the right one, and she’s guaranteed nothing off the bat but condemnation.
Then there’s the option of adoption, which I suppose garners less criticism. Ultimately, though, you’re still branded a slut until everyone moves on and forgets they helped make a scary time in your life a living hell.
So, as you can see, girls can’t win. It’s a lose-lose situation, and these ads are only another blow to the chest.
I normally don’t read feminist articles or blogs when I see a link pop up on a social media site. However, I honestly found your blog very interesting, and it takes boldness to write about such a touchy subject. I appreciate your first post about defining feminism, because without a clear definition, it’s hard to really evaluate what feminism is. Without it, the argument becomes very confusing. I am a guy, and I completely believe in women’s rights and equality. However, I also believe that men and women are different. I’m not trying to give some kind of “separate but equal” argument, but different skills and personalities make women better at some things and men better at others. I just warn you to be careful that in promoting equality, you don’t try to destroy these advantages that each gender has. Economically speaking, these skills are each gender’s “comparative advantage.” By each working at what we are best at, we accomplish the most. Sometimes your blog can have a negative tone towards men in general, rather than just those who treat women poorly. Your writing style flows well and captures the reader’s attention, but just be careful to not turn off the 50% of the audience that you’re trying the hardest to reach.
You definitely have a very clear voice and a clear position in your writing. This is fantastic because it makes you cause a lot more prominent because you are so passionate. I would, however, dare to argue that the ads say nothing about abstinence or that they have no point. Their whole point is abstinence. You don’t have to read the word abstinence to know that it is alluded to. The real question of the poster is whether or not the teen is willing to sacrifice everything for an unexpected child. The point of these is almost to work as a scare tactic. It says “sure, sex is fun, but there are consequences”. It’s urging women not to have sex because of the consequences it might/will have. And while, yes, men are 50% of the baby equation, there’s no good way to target men on this subject. Men don’t have to carry another human inside of them for 9 months and then have to deliver. There is no risk to the man except child support which they may not even pay anyway. Ultimately, sex is a mutual decision and if they can take out the female 50% of the equation, then the entire equation falls apart. It’s a stated fact that babies born to teen parents tend to have rough childhoods and decreased rates of success in life and it’s also a fact that teen pregnancy is on the rise. How would you combat that?
The thing with teen pregnancy is not that society finds the woman to be at fault; the problem is rooted in our genetics. During the process of having a child, the woman is the one who has to carry the child, and this makes that woman an easy target. It is hard to find someone in society who looks at teen parents, and thinks, “good choice.” If the male was the one who was easy to notice as a teen parent, the male would be criticized. So I’m not sure that this can be a gender equality problem as much as it is a problem that women are noticably parents. It’s unfortunate that these ads only focus on women in the equation, but ads are often more effective in focusing on a group. I’m sure you can find ads out there that just focus on teen men, and why teen pregnancy is bad.
Wow this really made me stop and think. You took these ads and tore them apart (in a good, rhetorical way:). I am really appalled that the ads above do not have any mention of just abstaining from sex, or having safe sex. They just jump immediately into the shaming. Further, it makes the child seem like the enemy of the girl. Using a baby as a shaming device for teenage girls is just wrong. It doesn’t mention that they are often one of the greatest parts of being a mom (when you are ready to be a mom!)–it just ingrains in all females from a young age that children are undesirable, a burden, and you’ll be left to take care of them on your own.
That is super unfair. Like you say, we shouldn’t glorify teen pregnancy, but we shouldn’t condemn it either. It would be great if there was a program that helped take care of teen parents and their kids with daycare, tutoring, and supplies.
Unfortunately, wishing for such a program doesn’t do much. It’s such a difficult situation. Certainly guilting the mother doesn’t help it. If anything, there should be posters that guilt the dad that leaves, like “Dad, you left me. I’m your kid.” Or, perhaps there could posters that encourage the grandparents to support their grandkid despite the unorthodox situation.