Photo courtesy of Time MagazineBy now I'm sure you've heard of all those pregnant teenage girls at Gloucester Highschool, the debates over whether there was a 'pregnancy pact' or not, whether there needs to be more sex education or condoms tossed around etc. If not here is part of the piece in Time Magazine that contributed to this local news story becoming a national one:
"As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies — more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno and Knocked Up for glamorizing young unwed mothers. But principal Joseph Sullivan knows at least part of the reason there's been such a spike in teen pregnancies in this Massachusetts fishing town. School officials started looking into the matter as early as October, after an unusual number of girls began filing into the school clinic to find out if they were pregnant. By May, several students had returned multiple times to get pregnancy tests, and on hearing the results, "some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," Sullivan says. All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. "We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy," the principal says, shaking his head.
The question of what to do next has divided this fiercely Catholic enclave. Even with national data showing a 3% rise in teen pregnancies in 2006 — the first increase in 15 years — Gloucester isn't sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control. In any case, many residents worry that the problem goes much deeper. The past decade has been difficult for this mostly white, mostly blue-collar city (pop. 30,000). In Gloucester, perched on scenic Cape Ann, the economy has always depended on a strong fishing industry. But in recent years, such jobs have all but disappeared overseas, and with them much of the community's wherewithal. "Families are broken," says school superintendent Christopher Farmer. "Many of our young people are growing up directionless."" (Read all about it here)
As I've mentioned in the past, American moments like this one reveal a troubling double standard regarding race. I've listened to lots of commentary about this weird phenomenon going on in Gloucester but have not heard a single person suggest that any of these girls being white contributed to their behavior. If these were seventeen black teenagers it would be assumed by whites and blacks that their 'blackness' was a significant factor. There would be talking heads on television every night debating the moral degradation of black culture, the pernicious influence of hip-hop music, the crisis of 'baby mamas' and so on. Even when there is some kind of cultural critique, such as the references to Juno or Knocked Up in this case, the critique is color-blind, no mention of the fact that both these movies were about white women (and men for that matter) making pretty dumb decisions. So here's the question, are the pregnancies in Gloucester signs of a white cultural crisis? Should we not burn up considerable airtime, type frantically at our keyboards, convene academic conferences and public hearings all across the country to examine this possibility? If not, why not? Wouldn't that be the just and equitable thing to do?
"Say: Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish man's station."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 203)
Phillipe,
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how you turned a matter of unthinking teens (a phenomena as old as Man) into a racial commentary. I see, perhaps, a class - lower economic - issue could be pursued; but not race.
The current welfare system provides an opportunity for young girls to break away from the oversight of parents. Having a child means welfare benefits == apartment == "freedom". These teens wanted to "raise their children together"; translated that means a big apartment with lots of parties and no parents to bother them. They know that no job in town would pay enough for each to afford an apartment - but welfare would. And welfare is not race specific, I'll wager the number of each race on welfare in MA is proportional to the racial distribution.
Warm regards,
Reed
I dont know if this is a racial issue OR more of a Cultural issue..
ReplyDeleteI believe that it has more to do with the forces of Irreligion as defined by Shogi Effendi in some of his tablets than the race of the Girls being white...
However the criticisms being more vocal because they are white seem to imply that there is a HIGHER STANDARD of behavior demanded by white people of white people. And in my opinion that is slightly racist..
In my opinion having a child out of wedlock is just as immoral whether you are White or Black
On the contrary, I see this as very related. How many times have we read in the media that an inner city school has a "rash" of pregnancies? And then, imagine all the white folks, speaking amongst themselves and lamenting on how their tax dollars go to support these "welfare mommas". The media coverage on Gloucester proves there is a shift in media thought and white cultural thought. However, it only serves to magnify the double standard that exists among the races. If Hispanic and Black teens become pregnant, there is no media coverage and interviews on the Today Show. "They" expect it from us. To some, this was a hard pill to swallow.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I agree with Grady. On average, four girls became pregnant each year in Gloucester. Suddenly, there's a more than four-fold increase. School administrators look for a reason, and a "pregnancy pact" is postulated.
ReplyDeleteIf an inner-city school were to experience a more than four-fold pregnancy spike, no doubt administrators and social workers would toss out theories (some of them wacky), and media that hungers for the salacious would headline the story.
Reed and Terry, I don't think that you understood the point of the post. The point is that there is a double standard regarding race and behavior. Whether race is an issue in this case is an open question which should be examined just as is regularly done regarding the behavior of blacks and other minorities. It may be that race has nothing to do with it but if you don't bother to examine it, you won't know one way or the other. We have to ask ourselves why does this double standard exist in the first place.
ReplyDeleteGrady I think you understood where I was coming from.
Larry O., I don't think that this is an issue of sensationalism, though I agree that the "pregnancy pact" part is being made more of than necessary.
Phillipe,
ReplyDeleteSince there is no mention of race, does it make sense to assume that there is an undercurrent of racism?
"To the man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail."
The above amusing axiom may be applicable here, as may the following:
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
You are suggesting that the presence of the absence of mention of race is proof of the unmentioned. This is the "invisible cat" fallacy.
"There is an invisible cat on that chair!"
"I don't see a cat."
"Of course, and that is proof that it is an invisible cat!"
:)
With warmest regards,
Reed
Reed, it seems that in your view the fact that I'm raising the issue of race is a problem. If you read carefully I did not say whether or not race is an issue in this case. What I said is that it will not be seriously considered because of the double standard regarding race and behavior. What is racist about that? You seem to be assuming that race is not a factor but not offering any evidence of that which is my point exactly. If a cigar is sometimes just a cigar as you say, that should be true regardless of the race of who is involved, but in the United States that is not yet the case. The behavior of blacks such as say teen pregnancy is commonly assumed to be related to their race. When whites engage in the exact same behavior it is virtually never assumed to be related to their race. My question is why is that? Does that make sense? Is it just or equitable? This is what I'm getting at. In the case of the Gloucester girls we will never know whether or not race was a relevant factor because no one will bother to ask the question in the first place. I'm asking it because somebody somewhere should.
ReplyDeleteDear Phillipe,
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a bias that middle-class black teens in suburbia (and there are many) have a higher pregnancy rate than white teens. Are you familiar with such a prejudice? If not, then the race, i.e., skin color, is not a factor.
When you speak of pregnancy rates among inner-city teens, you are referring to, consciously or not, a matter of socio-economic class and prevailing culture -- not race. In New Bedford, Dartmouth, and Taunton, the Portuguese teens from impoverished families also have a higher-than-national-average pregnancy rate -- but that is not a factor of skin color; rather other factors, such as the one I mentioned in a previous post.
Skin color, i.e., race, we do not change, cultures are constantly in flux. The distinction is very important, IMO.
You might be interested in some stats -- http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
or this study summary -- http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17737696 -- which concludes that social capital is the most significant predictor of teen pregnancy rates.
Your assertion is that the Gloucester article reveals "a troubling double standard regarding race." I do not see that (cat). I have never thought that teen pregnancy was related to skin color; nor do I think most Americans have that perception. Culture, yes; income-class, yes; social capital, definitely; pursuit of an unconditional love, predominantly. But, I don't have a hammer. : )
With warmest regards,
Reed
Phil,
ReplyDeleteI read your article and I agree with you. I really want to share with you my experience.
New Mexico, where I live, has a large number of pregnancies out of marriage, and a not insignificant amount are among teenagers. Often women will have multiple children over the years outside of marriage.
Despite being a strongly catholic state, people don't pass too much judgment. I don't know if this is because it is so common or not.
I will say that this trend seems to exist for people from all New Mexican races: Native American, white, and latino. It does seem to vary by individual family more than anything else. And it seems less common for people immigrating from Mexico or other US states. Of course people who acclimate well to New Mexico fit in much better with the locals.
This whole thing has stumped me for years. What do you think?
race/color is out of the question. It is clear that there is lack of guidance here, the reasons for which can be economic, social, cultural etc. The goal here is to avoid a myopic view and start doing something to help. Not only do the teenagers need guidance, but the ones expected to guide them must have a clear understanding of the consequences of each scenario. Without getting into details, I'll conclude that women need to be educated and made aware of their essential and magnificent role in life.
ReplyDeleteDeepa, thanks for weighing in. Race may not be a factor. We may never know one way or the other. The rest of your point makes sense to me. God willing, these young women and those in similar situation will get whatever help that they need.
ReplyDeleteJalal, I have no idea why some teens get pregnant and others don't. It would appear that there are complex spiritual, moral, psychological and social factors. It's an excellent question.
deepa,
ReplyDeleteSurely men need to be educated about this as well. I acknowledge that If women are assertive, they make up their minds not to become single mums but that job is a whole lot easier if the vision they have for the future is shared by their partner/potential partner. There can be a lot of pressure within a relationship when the view or where and how that relationship should go is different on both sides.
Pauline
Many voices thus far have stated their strong belief that the pregnancies in question are not about race. That's cool. It is understood and backed up scientifically that a particular skin color carries no intrinsic bias toward teen pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that in the wider discourse, when the object of discussion is black women (so often treated as object), these voices are less heard. A small example would be this blog. In March, Phillipe's post about sexually transmitted diseases among black women provoked no comments. 0. It's a bit specious of me to compare the two posts, but my point is -- teen pregnancy among Black women either goes without comment, or gets entangled in questions about Black culture. Teen pregnancy among white women is met with surprise by the media (presumably because we don't expect it among white women -- they allegedly have all the advantage), and never talked about as a problem with white culture.
My two cents -- we are having a white cultural crisis. It goes far beyond teen pregnancy. And let's talk about it. (After I get back from lunch with my wife.)
Lev, thanks for sharing your two cents. You seem to have grasped the real point of this post. That's encouraging.
ReplyDeletePauline, always nice to hear from you and yes, it is true that the boys and men involved in this episode seem largely invisible which is strange because these girls didn't get pregnant by themselves!