She's Having a Baby
Just tripped over an interesting piece in the Boston Globe about teen pregnancy:
NEW YORK - In the new hit movie "Juno" and now in real life with Jamie Lynn Spears, 16-year-old girls get pregnant and decide to bear the child rather than opt for abortion. For many social conservatives, it's a challenging story line - they condemn the teen sex but hail the ensuing choice.
"It's a double-edged sword in the Christian community," said Bill Maier, a vice president of the conservative ministry Focus on the Family.
"We should commend girls like Jamie Lynn Spears for making a courageous decision to have the baby. On the other hand, there's nothing glamorous or fun about being an unwed teen mother."
In "Juno," the spunky heroine continues attending high school even as her pregnancy progresses, and she scouts out a married couple who want to adopt the baby. (Read the whole thing here).
I believe that a more challenging moral debate would be about whether or not there is a double standard regarding teenage pregnancy when race is taken into account. For many the unmarried, black teenage mother has become a virtual icon of the alleged depravity and decline of "black culture". How often do you hear pundits, politicians and intellectuals bemoaning the depravity and decline of "white culture" because sometimes a young white woman gets pregnant when she didn't plan to? Like so called "black on black" crime, it appears that the rules are different when a white teenager gets pregnant. I wonder if the movie Juno (which I have not yet seen), would be hailed as a brilliant comedy with a "spunky" lead if the story had been about a black girl rather than a white one, or rather a tragedy filled with violence and drug abuse. How many black girls are described as "courageous" for chosing to have their children when they face the challenge of an unplanned pregnancy? Our discource surrounding teen pregnancy must reflect justice and equity. Morally speaking teen pregnancy is teen pregnancy regardless of race . Let's have a moral debate about that.
"Tell,...the loved ones of God that equity is the most fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all things must needs depend upon it."
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah
5 comments:
Good point.
Here are some of the things I noticed when I co-ordinated a program for teen moms in upstate NY back in the mid '80's. It's core was a school-based support group for pregant and parenting teen women. Except for one young woman who was an immigrant from Colombia, they were all African American :
Most striking to me, none of the young women (ranging in age from 15-19) considered abortion as an option- they were quite clear that "I would never kill my baby".
Only one young woman was giving her child up for adoption. She was also the only one in the group from a middle class family. She was 18. Her parents told her that if she did not give the child up for adoption, she could not remain under their roof, nor would they support her financially in her plans to attend college. The others in her group all tried to dissuade her, urging her to keep her baby and offering to help.
The fact that none in the group was white was not due to more sexual activity among African American girls, but rather lack of use of birth control and/or abortion, for various reasons, which also had racial ramifications.
Very few factored in the fathers of the childen when it came to future plans.--
I often wonder about how some of these young ladies fared and are faring in thier later lives, and how the children-now adults-are doing.--I lost touch after a year or so. Some seemed to have all the odds against them, they were all spunky, and some were, indeed, heroic.
Judith
Oh, yes. This is exactly why I will not be going to see Juno anytime soon. It's never cute when a black girl gets pregnant. And, this double standard is also being applied in regard to whether or not this should be charged as statutory rape.
Liz, the part about statutory rape is really interesting. I didn't even think about that angle at all. Thanks for bringing it out and Judith thanks for honoring the stories of the young women you worked with.
hey phillipe!
interestingly, i went to see this movie tonight---after reading your comments on a racial double standard, but not because of them.
before seeing the film, or really knowing anything about it, i had to acknowledge within myself the truth of what you were saying: how would this movie be received if it were black people instead of white?
i think that what you've pointed out is true not because i have any understanding whatsoever of "black culture" or of teenage African American mothers. it feels true on an instinctive level, like when i consider sexual double standards that are ignored. also, i simply cannot imagine a film where a teenage black girl gets pregnant and the tone of the movie focuses on her courage.
having said that, i hadn't really thought it was possible to make a film about teenage pregnancy---regardless of culture/colour---that wasn't pedantically moralistic and pitiful, depressing, in atmosphere.
i have to say that i did enjoy the movie. it did not glamourize or victimize teenage pregnancy---being a comedy, it's kind of weird that it made it more human. it was very funny, very moving.
minor quibble: it's hard to understand how such a sassy, intelligent girl didn't think to use a contraceptive.
as usual, i'm glad that i have your blog to come and read for serious, sincere, thoughtful and thought-provoking dialogue. i echo your sentiments about this double standard, and i thank you for bringing this analysis to my attention.
love, from leila
Thanks Leila for a thoughtful comment. I imagine that this movie is very funny in some ways, problematic in other ways as is true of most popular culture portrayals of human beings these days. One thing in a lot of recent movies that I have seen is the complete abscence of spirituality among any of the characters, all of who strike me as self-centered with no sense of a purpose in life beyond fulfilling their own needs and desires. It's little wonder that their relationships appear dysfunctional which is now the "normal" version when it comes to movies especially about youth or young adults. Imagine a movie about a young woman who choses to not have sex until she gets married and having her be portrayed as "spunky" and "courageous" and "funny" etc.
I'm waiting for that kind of young move heroine, whether black or white.
Post a Comment