Teen Pregnancy in the Media

Teen Pregnancy in the Media
Three-quarters of a million teens between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant each year; eighty-two percent of those pregnancies are unplanned (“Peer Pressure Facts About Teenage Pregnancy” 1). Most teens that get pregnant do not have the education, money, or support system to raise a child, thus resulting in a poor life for the mother and the child (Wikipedia “Teenage Pregnancy” 3). Teenage pregnancy is a growing issue, especially in the United States, which is very serious because it deals with the life of another human being. More than one-third of all teenage pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion (“Teen Abortions” 1). Although the overall teenage pregnancy rate is declining, it is higher in the United States than any other country. With teenage pregnancy being one of the most preventable issues in the U.S., millions of lives could be saved each year if we learn how to prevent the issue. Teen pregnancy has always been portrayed in the media, such as in movies and television shows but, recently, the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy has become a growing trend in the media and continues to become more and more popular. The media is exposing this issue more than ever, by having the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy as the main plot and center of movies and TV shows, as well as in magazines, and many people are questioning whether the issue is being addressed in the right way. Specifically, many people are critical of the issue portrayed in MTV’s 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.
MTV’s reality television shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom became huge hits for young adults when the shows first aired in 2009. After the premiere of the first season in 2009, the teen birth rate fell significantly in the United States after it had a five percent increase from 2005 to 2008. Although no one can know for sure, this decline may be because 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom are the very first reality shows ever created that star real life teenagers becoming pregnant. 16 and Pregnant follows the lives of teenagers who have just gotten pregnant and the ups and downs of their pregnancies. Teen Mom continues to follow a few of the teens from 16 and Pregnant after they give birth and their new lives as teen moms. In producing these television shows, the creators knew that the age groups that would be viewing the shows the most would be teenagers and young adults, so that is obviously the group of people that they are trying to target. But what is the message that these shows are intending to send? MTV claims that the purpose of creating the television shows is for education entertainment and to make viewers cautious of their decisions by showing how hard and stressful it is to be a teenager and a parent at the same time. Is the common displaying of teenage pregnancy in the media, such as in the television shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, promoting and normalizing teenage pregnancy, or is it discouraging pregnancy among teens? Some authors of scholarly articles argue that the media is promoting and normalizing teenage pregnancy by featuring teen mothers on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom and magazines, portraying them as celebrities, while other authors believe that the media has done a good job at discouraging teenage pregnancy by showing the stressful, real-life stories of teenage parents. I believe that the displaying of teenage pregnancy shown by the media through 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom on MTV has educated and warned teens about teenage pregnancy effectively, but other forms of the media, such as magazines and tabloids, have used these TV shows to glamorize teenage pregnancy. In Hollie McKay’s article, “Tabloids Glamorizing Teen Pregnancy By Putting Teen Moms on Covers,” she believes that Tabloids are glamorizing teenage mothers by featuring them on the covers of magazines such as People, US Weekly, and OK!. Some of the teenage mothers from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have been featured on the covers of magazines for stories in the magazines about about their struggles as being teen parents to their relationship, family, and social problems. McKay uses a few examples of these stories in her article: “On newsstands this week, People Magazine has 16 and Pregnant stars Catelynn and Tyler sharing their “moving story” after choosing adoption for their newborn daughter Carly, and OK! has an “exclusive” cover story with “Teen Mom” Maci and her “Bitter Custody Battle” along with details of her quest to protect her son from “her slimy ex Ryan”.” McKay argues that by these tabloids putting teen moms on their covers, they are adding fame to them and portraying them like they are any other celebrity. McKay uses a quote that she agrees with from the organization’s Director of Communications and Public Education, Melissa Henson, who argues, “Putting the stars of these reality shows on a magazine cover puts them on the same plane as any actress, singer, or other celebrity. It is sending the message to girls that if you get pregnant as a result of being sexually active; you could end up on TV or a magazine cover”(McKay 1). With portraying the teen moms like they are any other celebrities, tabloids are also sending the message to teens that having a baby at a young age and ending up on TV or a magazine cover is an easy way to make a lot of money. While McKay argues that the media is promoting and normalizing teenage pregnancy, she does point out that the number of teenage pregnancies did decline in the year that 16 and Pregnant premiered. McKay reasons that teenage pregnancy has become such a big phenomenon ever since 2007 when the successful film Juno was released and then when The Secret Life of the American Teenager, on ABC, became the network’s most watched series. McKay also brings up about how Bristol Palin, the daughter of a former Alaska Governor and who got pregnant at age 18 in 2008, is one of the most famous teen moms and has been featured on many talk shows and tabloids. She believes that these events have led to the current trend of teen pregnancy in the media and that the media is promoting it. Although McKay argues valid points about how the media may be promoting and normalizing teenage pregnancy, she does not look at how the media could be discouraging it. In “The Representation of Teenage Pregnancy in American Visual Culture on the Example of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom,” researched by Anna B. Bedyniak, Bedyniak argues both sides of the controversy of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom and suggests that, on one side, the TV shows are educational and positive influences on their viewers, and on the other side, MTV has turned the teenagers who have gotten pregnant on the shows into celebrities. Unlike McKay’s article, Bedyniak discusses and provides evidence for both sides of the issue. Bedyniak argues that the shows have been a positive influence of their viewers because of statistics of viewers who watch 16 and Pregnant and because of the overall teen pregnancy rate in the United States. In her scholarly article she claims, “According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy, 82% of all 2009 teenage viewers of 16 and Pregnant claimed that the program had shown them the real hardships and challenges of teenage pregnancy, parenthood and adult life”(28). This proves that MTV’s claim of showing 16 and Pregnant as a form of education entertainment and a cautious tale was efficient to 82% of the viewers in 2009. Bedyniak also claims that, “In the same study it was reported that the teen pregnancy rate dropped by 6% in the United States… Although there is no completely reliable way to determine whether the reality series contributed to this drop or not, researchers suggest that it did”(28). After the pregnancy rate increased so rapidly up until 2009, there is reason to believe that the airing of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom contributed to the decrease in 2009, but there is not sufficient evidence to prove it. On the other side of the controversy, Bedyniak argues that the stars of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have been turned into celebrities. She writes in her article that, “The girls and their partners have gained great popularity and have fan pages on Facebook and other social network portals, which clearly indicates that they are perceived as celebrities”(27). Bedyniak makes a valid point that because of the TV shows, the stars have become very popular and have a lot of fans, because that is the same way actresses and other famous people become celebrities. Bedyniak points out that, “Also, many critics wonder about future casts’ motivations in joining the show”(27). Some critics believe that some teens will just want to get pregnant and be on the show in order to become famous and make money. Bedyniak does an excellent job at arguing and giving evidence for both sides of the controversy.
In Tiffany Brewer’s scholarly article, “Exploring the Impact of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant on Parents and Teenage Girls,” Brewer argues that although 16 and Pregnant has won praise because of its entertainment education, many critics believe that MTV is idealizing teenage pregnancy. Brewer, just like Bedyniak, explores both sides of the controversy, unlike McKay who only argues that the media is glamorizing teenage pregnancy. She believes that the show does a great job in showing the real life of a teenage parent and how much of a struggle it can be. The following quote Brewer uses in her article to describe the entertainment education in 16 and Pregnant: “Viewers get a realistic look at the wide variety of challenges young mothers can face: tumultuous relationships, family involvement (or lack thereof), financial struggles, school and work stress, gossip, and more—all while learning how to care for themselves and their children (Suellentrop, Brown, & Ortiz, 2010)”(7). This describes how 16 and Pregnant really is shown to serve as a cautionary tale for viewers. On the other hand, Brewer supports other critics’ arguments that MTV is idealizing teenage pregnancy. A quote from one critic that Brewer uses to support this argument claims that, “The shows were supposed to reveal the hardships of being pregnant at a young age. But MTV is promoting teen pregnancy instead of stating it as a serious problem in America…MTV is implying that if a girl gets pregnant, then she has a one‐way ticket to fame (Montalvan, 2011).” This is saying that the original intent of creating the show was, in fact, to show the struggles and hardships of being a teen mom, but that MTV has turned that intent into promoting teenage pregnancy and that just by getting pregnant as a teenager, girls can become famous. Brewer provides great evidence for both sides of the controversy by using other critics’ arguments as well as her own.
In Feifei Sun’s article in Time magazine, “Teen Moms are Reality TV’s New Stars. Is This a Good Thing?,” Sun argues that although the stars of 16 and Pregnant have become famous because they got pregnant at a young age, the show’s approach has always been to deter teen pregnancy and it has been effective. Sun focuses more on the actual TV shows than the authors do, and argues on the side of the controversy that the media is discouraging teenage pregnancy. Sun and McKay argue opposite sides, but Bedyniak and Brewer would probably agree with the points that Sun Makes. Sun believes that the show does not do anything to make teen pregnancy look glamorous and moreover, the show makes being a teenage parent look like a real struggle. In his article, Sun writes, “The series does not sugarcoat the challenges its subjects face: the slights and scorn of peers, friction with disappointed (grand)parents, colic, drudgery, arguments, sleep deprivation and--with dismayingly few exceptions--the burden of a feckless, absent or outright abusive boyfriend.” In his article, Sun also mentions that, “An October 2010 focus-group study commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that 4 in 10 teenagers who watch an episode of 16 and Pregnant talk about the show with a parent afterward and that more than 90% of them think teen pregnancy is harder than they imagined before watching the series.” This shows that the shows approach to warn viewers about the hardships that teen parents face is 90% effective, which is statistically significant, especially when other critics believe that the show is idealizing teenage pregnancy. Sun supports his argument that MTV’s 16 and Pregnant has been effective in discouraging teenage pregnancy among its viewers.
In an article from the Washington Times, “MTV’s 16 and Pregnant Sobering for Many Teens,” written by Cheryl Wetzstein, Wetzstein argues that despite the attempts of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom trying preventing teenage pregnancy by causing distress among viewers when they watch the shows, the fact that the shows are aired on MTV, a network that has always had no problem with displaying sex, has many people questioning the real intention of the message being sent to viewers of these reality shows. She argues a point that is much different than the other authors. Wetzstein looks beyond the content of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom and more into the network that these shows are aired on. She considers what content MTV has shown in other TV shows shown on the network previously, which none of the other authors look at. Wetzstein argues that MTV has always been one of the top networks to aim sexual content at the youth. Wetzstein uses a quote from Melissa Henson, director of communications for the nonprofit media-watchdog organization, to support her claim which reasons, “It 's hard for me to believe that they are really sincere [about fighting teen pregnancy] when they produce and distribute so many programs that really glamorize irresponsible behavior.” Since MTV has a history of displaying explicit TV shows or movies, Wetzstein and other critics have a hard time believing that all of a sudden the network are trying to promote abstinence when MTV has always normalized sex. Wetzstein does, indeed, provide a good argument about why it is unusual that MTV’s real intentions of producing 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom is to discourage teenage pregnancy, but there really is no evidence that suggests that MTV has decided to change the way the network displays sex.
After researching the topic of whether or not the media promotes teenage pregnancy and analyzing other authors’ arguments on the controversy, I have developed my own argument for my research question, Is the common displaying of teenage pregnancy in the media, such as in the television shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, promoting and normalizing teenage pregnancy, or is it discouraging pregnancy among teens? I believe that the displaying of teenage pregnancy shown by the media through 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom on MTV has educated and warned teens about teenage pregnancy effectively, but other forms of the media, such as magazines and tabloids, like People, US Weekly, and OK! , have used these TV shows to glamorize teenage pregnancy. I have generated my argument from my experience of watching the TV shows and what others reason about the content portrayed in the shows, from what statistics and studies have proven, and from my own experience and what other critics believe about the way the teen moms are portrayed in magazines and tabloids.
The content and real-life scenes shown in 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom do not glamorize teenage pregnancy at all. There are so many hardships and struggles that the shows display to viewers, which makes 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom one of the best forms of birth control. They can be considered forms of birth control because viewers get to see what the actual reality of having a baby as a teenager is and that might make some teenagers not even want to have sex to begin with. The TV shows display the challenge of teens first having to tell everyone when she gets pregnant and the life-altering decision of what to do with the baby. The shows also display fights among the teenage parents and fights among the teens and their own parents. 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom mainly focus on all of the things a teenage parent has to give up, such as the loss of the teen parent’s social life, sleep deprivation, and being able to go to school or even online school. The shows really put into perspective how fast a teenager must change into an adult after becoming pregnant and display so many other ways that a teen’s life will change and become a struggle once a baby comes into the picture. In the first season of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, Catelynn and Tyler find out that Catelynn is pregnant. Both of them come from very poor and unstable families, so finding this out becomes devastating. Catelynn and Tyler both want their child to have a better life than either of them have and know that the child will not get that if he/she is raised in the households they live in. While Catelynn and Tyler are on 16 and Pregnant, they are trying to make the hardest decision of their lives: whether or not to keep the baby or give the baby up for adoption. Both of their parents want them to keep the baby because they want a grandchild, which makes it a lot harder for them to make a decision. Catelynn and Tyler decide that adoption is the best option for their baby, without the support of either of their parents. Once Catelynn and Tyler are on Teen Mom, they have a baby girl named Carly, and immediately have to give her over to her adoptive parents, Brandon and Theresa. Although Catelynn and Tyler don’t show the struggles that the rest of the teenage parents face with raising a baby, their struggle of having to give away a loved one is shown throughout the whole show and does not ever get any easier. Catelynn and Tyler both know that they made the right decision in giving Carly a better life, but are still and will always be heartbroken that they weren’t able to raise their own baby and give her the life she needs. Catelynn and Tyler are one of the most important aspects to 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom because some teens that get pregnant may think that adoption is the easy way out. When a girl is carrying a baby for nine months, a bond will be formed and having to give away that baby that has been a part of you is much harder than anyone could ever imagine. In the Time Magazine article, written by Feifei Sun, Catelynn says, “I 've changed girls ' lives since the show started. I go to schools and talk about adoption, preaching contraceptives and abstinence"(“Teen Moms are Really Reality TV’s New Stars. Is This a Good Thing?” 2). Catelynn is proud of how the show has taught other girls what hardships teen parents will face by giving their baby up for adoption. Although Catelynn and Tyler do struggle with their decision of adoption, they are the only couple that maintain and strong relationship throughout the whole show and don’t have to give up as much as the other teenage parents who decide to keep their babies. Amber and Gary are a couple that had a baby named Leah, and are engaged. There is not one episode that doesn’t show Amber and Gary not fighting with each other in front of Leah and sometimes, it even gets physical. Before Leah was born, Amber and Gary had a good relationship, which is why they got engaged. Having to raise a baby causes so much stress on both of them that they take it out on each other and no longer have the relationship they had before Amber got pregnant. Amber and Gary show how a great relationship can completely reverse once the teens have a baby. One of the teen moms on the shows, named Farrah, has a daughter named Sophia. Sophia’s father passed away from a motorcycle accident shortly after Farrah became pregnant with Sophia. Farrah represents the teenage girls that get pregnant and have to raise the baby by themselves, which is very common among teenagers. Farrah struggles with the adjustment of her social life and loses her close relationship with her mother because of it. Farrah doesn’t understand that once she has a baby, she needs to become an adult and won’t be able to hang out with her friends, go on dates, and party like she could before. Her mother constantly tries to tell Farrah this, which causes a number of fights between them. All of the teen parents on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom show how fast their lives go from being about themselves to being about their babies. They go from getting as much sleep as they want to having to wake up numerous times during the night because of their crying baby. They figure out that it is impossible to go to school or try to study for their GED while trying to raise a baby. Eventually, all of the teenage parents figure out that they have to give up so many aspects of their lives that they once took for granted once a baby comes into the picture. 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom portrays teenage pregnancy as something that no teenager would want to ever go through because of everything that they have to lose when becoming a parent and how much their life will change.
There have been a lot of studies done to figure out if watching 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom effectively warns viewers of the hardships of being a teenage parent. As quoted earlier in this paper from the article, “Teen Moms are Really Reality TV’s New Stars. Is This a Good Thing?,”: “An October 2010 focus-group study commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy found that 4 in 10 teenagers who watch an episode of 16 and Pregnant talk about the show with a parent afterward and that more than 90% of them think teen pregnancy is harder than they imagined before watching the series”(Sun 1). This shows that before watching an episode of 16 and Pregnant, teenagers wouldn’t want to talk to their parents about teenage pregnancy, but after watching the show, 40% of them did. Also, the fact that 90% of the viewers thought teen pregnancy was harder than they imagined after watching the show, shows that 16 and Pregnant was effective in showing that teenage parenthood isn’t an easy thing, which was MTV’s goal in creating the show. Another study, researched by the National Campaign, polled teenagers on their thoughts about teen pregnancy in the media, specifically in 16 and Pregnant and found these results: “Among those teens who have watched the show, 82% think that the show helps teens better understand the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenthood, compared to 15% who believe that it glamorizes teen pregnancy”(Evaluating the Impact of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant on Teen Viewers’ Attitudes About Teen Pregnancy, 1). More than five times the amount of viewers believe that the show helps teens understand the struggles faced with being a teenage parent than viewers who think that the show glamorizes teenage pregnancy. This number is statistically significant because it is obvious which side of the controversy is dominant. Since 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom were aired in 2009, the teen birth rate fell dramatically. In an article called “MTV 's '16 And Pregnant ' Credited For Decline In Teen Pregnancy Rates,” by James Dinh, Dinh states, “According to a new government study, U.S. teen birthrates plunged dramatically in 2009 after a five percent increase from 2005 to 2007. And a report by National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy recognizes "16 and Pregnant," specifying that 82 percent of teenagers credit the hit show in helping them understand the challenges that come with unexpected parenthood.” The fact that the U.S. teen birth rate fell drastically in 2009 wouldn’t be so significant if there hadn’t have been such a huge increase in the years before it. The only cause of this fall in 2009 that experts have found is the airing of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. No other television shows or movies have portrayed teenage pregnancy in such a real-life way like these shows before, and because of their huge popularity, researchers believe that these shows had a huge influence on U.S. teenagers. Statistics and studies have shown that 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have definitely had a positive influence on teenagers, but the messages that magazines and tabloids are sending out to teens are totally different.
Magazines and tabloids portray the teen moms from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom in a completely different way than the shows do by making their lives look fun and glamorous. As I argued before, the content which is shown the TV shows definitely does not make being a teenage mother look glamorous or fun in the least bit. The shows focus on the struggles of being a teen parent, where magazines and tabloids put a twist on the teen moms’ fame. The teen moms from the shows have become famous because of the shows’ popularity. Because the stars have become well-known, magazines and tabloids have tried to display the teen mothers as any other celebrities by featuring them on the covers of magazines, interviewing them, and featuring them in stories. On some of the covers of magazines such as Ok!, US Weekly, and In Touch, Maci Bookout is featured on the cover with titles such as, “Ryan Breaks Maci’s Heart” and “Teen Mom Maci Back With Ryan.” Actors and singers are more commonly on the covers of magazines for their relationship gossip, not teenage parents. The fact that these magazines are placing the teen moms on the same level as any other celebrity is a bit shocking because the way they became famous is completely different than other celebrities. Other celebrities have worked hard and long to get their picture on the cover of a magazine, while these teen mothers made mistakes and ended up being viewed in the same way. All of the magazines and tabloids show the teen moms smiling and holding their children, looking extremely happy. If anyone were to turn on 16 and Pregnant or Teen Mom for five minutes, they would see that is not how any of the teen moms are in real life. Magazines and tabloids are taking stars from shows that are trying discourage teenage pregnancy and making their lives look ideal and glamorous. On the cover of one issue of US Weekly, Maci and Farrah are featured with a title that says “What We’ve Learned.” I think that this type of story is alright to put in magazines because the story has Maci and Farrah talking about what they’ve learned from being a teenage mother and being on the show. This cover and story does not portray the teen moms any differently than the shows do. Most magazines, however, try to glamorize the lives of the teen moms from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom to try to make them appear like any other celebrity.
I believe that the displaying of teenage pregnancy shown by the media through 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom on MTV has educated and warned teens about teenage pregnancy effectively, but other forms of the media, such as magazines and tabloids, have used these TV shows to glamorize teenage pregnancy because of the content that is shown in the TV shows, statistics and studies about the shows, and how magazines portray the teen mothers. There is no one that can deny that by watching 16 and Pregnant or Teen Mom, teenage parenting looks easy. The shows highlight all of the hardships and challenges that these teen parents face and don’t make it look fun at all. Polls and studies have proven that when teens watch an episode of either of the shows, they immediately begin to see exactly how hard and stressful having a baby as a teenager really is. Statistics have shown that the U.S. teen birth rate has fallen drastically since the airing of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom in 2009, after it was increasing so rapidly from 2005 to 2008. While some critics argue that the media is glamorizing teenage pregnancy, the TV shows most certainly do not, but magazines often portray the stars of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom like all other celebrities, which may make it appear that these teen moms live glamorous lives, when really, watching their real life struggles on the TV shows proves otherwise.

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Bibliography: Bedyniak, Anna B. “The Representation of Teenage Pregnancy in American Visual Culture on the Example of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.” Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree in Women’s and Gender Studies. 2010-2011. Print. 19 December 2011. Brewer, Tiffany. “Exploring the Impact of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant on Parents and Teenage Girls.” A Capstone Project. (2011). Print. 19 December 2011. Dinh, James. “MTV 's '16 And Pregnant ' Credited For Decline In Teen Pregnancy Rates.” MTV. 2010. Web. 19 December 2011. Hagan, Caitlin. “Teen Pregnancy Rate Lowest in Two Decades.” CNN Health. 2011. Web. 19 December 2011. McKay, Hollie. “Tabloids Glamorizing Teen Pregnancy by Putting Teen Moms on Covers.” Fox News. 2010. Web. 19 December 2011. “Peer Pressure Facts and Teenage Pregnancy.” Peer Pressure Facts. July 29, 2011. Web. 19 December 2011. Sun, Feifei. “Teen Moms are Reality TV’s New Stars. Is This a Good Thing?” Time Magazine. 2010. Print. 19 December 2011. “Teen Abortions.” Child Trends Data Bank. Print. 19 December 2011. Wetzstein, Cheryl. “MTV’s 16 and Pregnant Sobering for Many Teens.” Washington Times. 2010. Web. 19 December 2011. Wikipedia. “Teenage Pregnancy.” Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 December 2011. Web. 19 December 2011.