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MTV and Teen Pregnancy: Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom PDF

278 Pages·2013·3.357 MB·English
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MTV and Teen Pregnancy Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom Edited by Letizia Guglielmo THESCARECROWPRESS,INC. Lanham•Toronto•Plymouth,UK 2013 PublishedbyScarecrowPress,Inc. AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup,Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com 10ThornburyRoad,PlymouthPL67PP,UnitedKingdom Copyright©2013byScarecrowPress,Inc. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote passagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData MTVandteenpregnancy:criticalessayson16andpregnantandTeenmom/editedbyLetizia Guglielmo. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-0-8108-9169-2(cloth:alk.paper)—ISBN978-0-8108-9170-8(ebook)1.Teenagemoth- ers.2.Teenagepregnancy.3.16andpregnant(Televisionprogram)4.Teenmom(Television program)5.Realitytelevisionprograms—Socialaspects.6.Massmediaandteenagegirls.I.Gugliel- mo,Letizia,1977– HQ759.4.M782013 306.874'3—dc23 2013004949 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Acknowledgments v Introduction:TeenMomsandBabyDaddies:Interruptingthe ConversationonTeenPregnancy vii LetiziaGuglielmo PartI:FeministInterventionsorTiredNarratives? 1 1 TeenMomismonMTV:PostfeministSubjectivitiesin16and Pregnant 3 CarynMurphy 2 16andPregnantandthe“Unvarnished”TruthaboutTeen Pregnancy 19 LetiziaGuglielmoandKimberlyWallaceStewart 3 TeenMomsNegotiateDesire:The(Re)Productionof PatriarchalMotherhoodinMTV’sTeenMom 35 AnastasiaTodd 4 OtheringtheMothering:PostfeministConstructsinTeenMom 49 JenniferA.Fallas PartII:“ThePersonalIsPolitical”:TeenPregnancyandHegemony 65 5 “100%Preventable”:TeenMotherhood,Morality,andtheMyth ofChoice 67 MayFriedman 6 TeenSex:AnEqualOpportunityMenace:MulticulturalPolitics in16andPregnant 79 ClareDaniel iii iv Contents 7 SensationalizingtheSentimental:NationalCultureandFuturity 93 MelanieAnneStewart 8 PathologicalMotherhood,ParentalRelationships,Expert Counseling,andHeteronormativity:AFrameworkofAnxiety andReassurancethroughMTV’sTeenMom 109 MartinaThomas PartIII:MakingRoomforDaddy:ImagesofTeenFatherhood 123 9 16andPregnant,Masculinity,andTeenFatherhood: ReconcilingorReinforcingStereotypes? 125 JenniferBeggsWeberandEnidSchatz 10 TeenageFathers:TheDisruptionandPromotionofthe HeterosexualImaginary 141 AndreaM.McClanahan 11 What’saBabyDaddytoDo?:FathersontheFringeinMTV’s 16andPregnant 161 LauraTropp PartIV:IsThisRealLife?MediatingtheWholeStoryofTeen PregnancyandMotherhood 177 12 “HavinganAbortionIsNotUncommon,butTalkingaboutIt PubliclyIs”:ExploringthePotentialforPositive,Feminist,Pro- ChoicePortrayalsofYoungWomen’sExperienceswith AbortioninMassMediathroughMTV’s“NoEasyDecision” 179 JoAnneGordon 13 “I’llSeeYouinCourt”:TheCollisionofLegalDramaFrames andPublicPolicy 193 AlisonN.NovakandIndiaJ.McGhee 14 TheYoungandthePregnant:Edutainment,RealityTelevision, andtheQuestionofTeenPregnancyPreventionon16and PregnantandTeenMom 207 MargaretTally 15 IsolatedandStruggling:AReal-Life“SixteenandPregnant” Narrative 219 AllisonBass EpisodeBibliography 235 Bibliography 239 Index 255 AbouttheEditorandContributors 261 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the collection’s contributors for their dedication to the project,theirmanyinsightsandthoughtfulreflectionsthroughoutthewriting andrevisionprocess,andtheirwillingnesstoaddtheirvoicestothisconver- sation.IoffermysincerethankstoKimberlyWallaceStewart,whoseinterest in and commitment to research in gender and women’s studies helped to generatetheseedsforthisprojectaswellasatrulyrewardingcollaboration. Andfinally, enormousthanksto Johnforwatchingcountless episodesof 16 andPregnant,TeenMom,andTeenMom2,forlisteningtoongoinganalysis throughouttheproject,andforofferingunendingsupport. v Introduction: Teen Moms and Baby Daddies Interrupting the Conversation on Teen Pregnancy Letizia Guglielmo The September 2008 announcement of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy, teen daughter of then vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, propelled the topic of teen pregnancy to the forefront of mainstream news media reports, prompting discussion on abstinence-only programs, conservative “family values,” and the fiercely pro-life politics of the Republican vice presidential candidate. Although by 2008 teen pregnancy rates within the United States had been on the decline since the early 1990s,1 this “problem” generated renewed interest and media attention. With the premiers of the film Juno in 2007,thetelevisionseriesTheSecretLifeoftheAmericanTeenagerin2008, and the very public pregnancies of Bristol Palin and teen idol Jamie Lynn Spearsbeforeher,onemightarguethat“[teen]pregnancyisnolongerinthe shadows”2andthat,unlikeyoungwomenfacingunplannedpregnanciesfor- tyorfiftyyearsearlier,PalinandSpearswerefortunatetohavethechoiceto raise their children and speak publicly about their pregnancies.3 Framed as “teachable moments,” however, these public discussions of teen pregnancy camewithaclearmessageforyoungwomen:don’tletthishappentoyou.In themonthsfollowingthebirthofherson,BristolPalinbecameaspokesper- son for abstinence just as Jamie Lynn Spears had announced, “It’s better to wait,”4andthisunveilingofteenpregnancydidlittletodisruptassumptions aboutyoungwomen,teensexuality,orreproductivechoice. As government funding for comprehensive sex education has continued to decrease since the 1980s, entertainment media has played an increasing role “in educating the public about significant health issues,” including teen vii viii Introduction:TeenMomsandBabyDaddies pregnancy.5 In 2000, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey revealedthata“majorityofviewers(52%)reportpickinguphealthinforma- tion that they trust to be accurate from prime time TV shows, and 1 in 4 (26%) say that these shows are among their top three sources for health information.”6By2004,apartnershipbetweentheKaiserFamilyFoundation and MTV, for example, resulted in nineteen programs of varying formats “designed to entertain and educate audiences . . . of over 95 million view- ers.”7 In 2009, MTV again partnered with the Kaiser Family Foundation as wellastheNationalCampaigntoPreventTeenandUnplannedPregnancyto createadocumentary-styleseriesonteenpregnancy:16andPregnant. Sinceitspremiere,16andPregnanthasreceivedongoingmediaattention fortheextenttowhichitcontributestotheconversationonteenpregnancyin the United States as a potential factor in reducing the number of teen preg- nancies at one extreme and as culpable for exploiting young women and glamorizing teen pregnancy at another. Although the program and its spin- offs, Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2, have been cited for their high ratings amongteenviewers,resultinginakindofcelebritystatusfortheteenmoms and suggesting that 16 and Pregnant does potentially fill a niche, the pro- gramcontent—specifically,themessagessharedwiththeaudience—remains largely unexplored. Although feminists such as Jessica Valenti have ques- tionedtheabsenceofthewholestoryofteenpregnancyintheseprograms— namely, the omission of any sustained discussion of abortion as a viable choice for teens facing an unplanned pregnancy—of significant concern are questions of authenticvoiceandmeaningfulinterventionin thenational dis- cussion surrounding teen pregnancy, representations of teen sexuality and motherhood, and the place of the programs (and teen moms) within popular culture. Furthermore, what are viewers—particularly, teenagers—learning about contraception, reproductive rights, poverty, social systems of support, genderroles,relationships,domesticviolence,andeducation?Giventhepro- grams’ focus on teen pregnancy and, by default, young women, scholars in gender and women’s studies, media studies, motherhood studies, sexuality education, and adolescent development, among other fields, have both an opportunity and an obligation to approach the programs critically and help young people interrogate the social and cultural norms in which these mes- sages are grounded. To that end, the chapters in this collection offer critical interdisciplinary thought on the programs and, where applicable, their com- panionspacesonline. Multivocalinnature,thiscollectionprovidesscholarlyworkgroundedin theory and, in some cases, personal narrative to expand the national discus- sion on teen pregnancy and teen sexuality with critical lenses that have the potential to foster social change. Divided into four parts, the volume is in- formed by the varied backgrounds and disciplinary expertise of its authors, yeteachchapter callsforanapproachto 16andPregnant,Teen Mom,Teen

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.