Wednesday, June 29, 2011


(If you open the video in Youtube you can read the text much better)

For my final project I took the topic of teen pregnancy in the media.  I find that in numerous movies, television shows, and magazines that teen pregnancy for the most part is glamorized, there are a few media presentations where is it not also, but for the most part I feel it is. My first way of proving my argument I used facts about what do today’s teen say, many teens felt that sex in media has gone up over the years and that the media is glamorizing pregnancy.  For my second view point I find a YouTube video made about how the media looks at teen pregnancy.  For my third view point I found an article online by Rick Nauert PHD in the Senior News Editor, I used a few quotes from his article to help support my argument from his studies. My fourth viewpoint is a magazine cover with Jamie Lynn and her baby, and how being a mom is the best feeling in the world. My final view point is of a talk show on how teen pregnancy reality shows are sending the wrong message.  The media often looks at how everything is going perfectly for these teens, whether is it them finishing school, parents buying them a house, parents fully taking care of the baby, or even how doing adaption is easy. The media rarely look at the struggles and complications of teenage pregnancy.
While doing this final project and looking up different media texts, I felt like the biggest topic in class that related to this were the discourses by Rebecca Raby.  Many teens in the videos, magazines, and movies, show all these discourses. It proves Raby’s point those discourses can relate to every topic of a teenagers, and even adults. 

7 comments:

  1. Pregnancy is a hot topic among teenagers in today's world of media. There are baby shows, movies and television series about teen pregnancy such as The Secret Life of an American Teenager, A baby Story, many shows about having multiple babies,Juno, 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, Degrassi, and in so many Lifetime movies. All of these teen girls having babies are being glamorized and portrays having a baby like its no big deal. It is a big deal, especially when one is a teenager. Most teens do not know how to take care of a baby, nevertheless support one. I think drastic measures should be taken to portray the struggles, challenges, and negative side of teen pregnancy to make the female audience be aware. Teen pregnancy has been increasing for young people and unless we do something about it through the media, it will continue to be on the rise.

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  2. I enjoyed your video. I found it interesting that the media isn't exploring teens of diverse ethnic backgrounds. It seems to me the warnings are primarily for white girls.

    I instantly thought of Raby's discourses and how teen pregnancy is portrayed. In a gender and sexuality course that I took, we talked about how the media is creating the problem of teen pregnancy. Before these shows, teen pregnancy rates had been the lowest in decades until about ten years ago.

    I also thought about how we discussed the body and how we aren't really given proper education in preventing teen pregnancy. These shows just show the baby side of it. Maybe they should have 16 and herpes...maybe that would change things.

    Great job.

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  3. Teen pregnancy is and always has been a big social problem. i agree with what Katherine said that most girls do not get the proper sex education to teach them how to prevent teen pregnancy. The topic is sort of shied away from when it comes to girls because most adults think if they dont bring it up their child wont want to do it. Thats so wrong. Parents need to me more active with sex eduxation and their teenagers. Teach them about birth control, and condoms as well as abstinence. Also these shows such as teen mom and sixteen and pregnant make being a teen mom look so easy. Teenagers need to be taught that theres more to being a parent than cute clothes and showing off your baby. Your argument made me think of save the last dance. How she was a teenage mom and was still going out just hanging with her friends partying. Because her mama dean would watch the baby. It shows young girls that your mom will raise your baby so you can still have fun. Also i though about raby discourses. and the social problem. teen pregnancy is a social problem. its up to everyone around these teens to educate them on the pressures and consequences of having unprotected sex.

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  4. I completely agree that the media is making teen pregnancy look glamorous. I read somewhere that since the show 16 & Pregnant came out, their was a rise in girls getting pregnant just to possibly be on the show. Also, I feel that with teen pregnancy their is this shame that if you even consider abortion then you are made out to be this terrible person. I myself am pro-choice and I feel that if I was to get pregnant at a very young age I would want to know my options and be okay with all the different choices I have for myself.

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  5. I really enjoyed your video. I really agree with you that teen pregnancy is now seen as the new "it" thing in the media. I also agree that the media is having teens believe that having children at a young age is so easy because of the media. When I think about when I was in high school before all of the teen pregnancy TV shows Juno, many of my peers thought that having a baby was going to be so easy and fun. I also agree with Chavon that there needs to be more proper sex education for teens so that things like this wont happen as often as they do now.

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  6. That was really eye opening. You took me into the mind of teen. Who thinks having a kid is the coolest. I just thought of the movie "Pregnancy Pact". I only saw previews and those were enough. I like how you focused in on the magazine quote by Jamie Lynn. It seems like something most people would look at and go hmm, but that is one thing that makes young girls think it is ok to be a parent. Those shows and movies reinforce the glamorized idea that it is ok to be a teen mom and not know how to raise a child.

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  7. Your video is really good. You did a good job with putting everything together! What i liked most about your video was that you put so much information quotes and comments from all sorts of places. Teen Pregnancy like it was mentioned is very glamorized now a days. Every time you turn the tv on their is something about teen pregnancy. Most of these shows i believe have the best intention to put out the right message but the end up giving the opposite one. Like 16 and pregnant.

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