Recently, in America teenage pregnancy has been a big issue and it continues to grow. There are many reasons why teens get pregnant and we judge them based on being so young with their own kids. There are teen moms who are victims of rape and other very serious issues. On the other hand, the show 16 and Pregnant goes against the dominant ideology of teenage pregnancy but in this case it is used in a way that somewhat glorifies teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy has recently been brought to light by many TV shows such as 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, and even by talk shows like Dr. Phil, the Tryra Show, and Oprah. 16 and Pregnant sticks out to me because it goes against the dominant ideology but at the same time it tries to show the issues that come along with teenage pregnancy. Teenagers believe the only way to stay happy or satisfied in a realationship is to have sex, but they aren't very responisble about it and they don't really think of the consequences that may result.
Some issues that come along with teenage pregnancy, especially nowadays, is being able to support your family. The economy is so bad so it makes it hard to support a family. There is one girl on 16 and Pregnant, Aubrey, who sticks out to me. Her boyfriend Brandon wanted her to be a stay at home mother when their son was born, but Aubrey didn't like the concept of being this stay at home mom that has to cook, clean, take care of her son Austin all day, and cater to Brandon once he got home. This brings up another dominant ideology which is women being stay at home mothers or housewives. For Aubrey and Brandon to raise their son it would be better for them both to have jobs because of how bad the economy is, with Brandon just working as a mall cop that wouldn't make much money, so Aubrey got a job of her own at a pizza place.
This show glorifies teenage pregnancy because the people who appear on the show get paid! They try to show how the young parents struggle to make money, or even stay together once the baby is born. In reality these young parents don't struggle as much as they say they do on the show because they do get paid. They aren't specific about how much they get paid, but there was one source that says that the babies on the show get college scholarships, I'm not sure if it is true or not, but even then, why is it fair for them to get college scholarships over any other child being born by a teenage mother who could have been raped?! Instead these children are possibly getting scholarships for college because their parents were irresponsible when it came to sex. One issue that is real on this show is parents figuring out what they want. Some couples are happy and stay together, or even stay together just for the baby, but others separate and eventually the baby will have a single parent, because both parents didn't make such wise decisions.
3 comments:
i like your post a lot because it explains about how teens are doing this and how it is not good. i think this show should not be ran anymore becasue a lot of teens are getting pregnant now and you are totally right. GOOD JOB (:
I really like this blog because it touches a very personal part of me because I am a teenage mom.How you said people judge you based on that and not on how you really are because usually the people that judge are people that dont know you. Also, you are so right about tv shows glorifyng teenage parenting because from my experience trying to be responsible for someone and supporting them economically while your in school like me is a struggle every single day. Even though I love my son of course.
If I didn't know anything about this show, the way you explained me just brought me to the world of teen pregnancy,you explained as if you were there. The concept on how you explained the American ideology makes it so serious and a way of getting people to look more into it and take it more seriously.
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