there goes the internet.

You Just Got Knocked the Fuck Up

Going two years without cable, and even longer without a personal television, made me forget the depravity I was missing out on. I didn’t really miss watching cultural stereotypes being catered to on dating shows that would just force me to think about things like how saggy the balls were of some has-been musicians, or if Flava Flav was living proof of human-troll hybrids. And, I certainly didn’t miss stilted and poorly acted “reality television.”

While house-sitting and perusing all the viewing opportunities, I came across “16 and Pregnant” and after first being disgusted about the premise and assuming the network was going to glamorize the condition: I turned it on. I was ready and expecting to exercise my cynicism. And what I got, actually, was quite the surprise.

Sing Your Heart Out, Kimya Dawson

The Show

“16 and Pregnant” is an actual reality show. You can take your island competitions and your Spring Break Never Dies type shows and cast them aside. This tired genre has been done respectfully and right without making social martyrs of the mamas and without losing sight of the ultimate message.

The girls come from an assorted set of backgrounds. There is Farrah, the privileged and somewhat emotionally vacant (to her credit, she has a mom who bitch slaps her for her “anti-Christ attitude”) cheerleader who seems to be having the baby due to presumed religious pressure from her parents. Her concern seems to be centered on some superficiality like how pregnancy will make her boobs look but, in the end, still decides pursuing college is in the immediate future and comfortably settles into single motherhood.

There’s Maci, the southern belle with an extremely understanding, supportive family, a sharp mind, and collegiate ambition (yet anchored by a deadbeat boyfriend who severely needed a z-snap and a wake up call [that asshat seriously says, as she cradles his child: "If we didn't have the baby, we wouldn't be together").  Now don’t think they’re all super-empowered or in ideal situations. The show brings along a reality check with the girls Whitney (who apparently would rather not tie her own shoes or have any semblance of autonomy) and Amber (her boyfran' went all out with a $21.40 engagment ring), clearly from lower-class families, the former being nothing more than a complete child, and the latter with a firm understanding of the situation ahead of her. Lastly, there’s Ebony, the sole woman of color who is forced to put her life’s dreams indefinitely on hold as well as her high school graduation, with the support of her own single mother and her goofy, gangly significant other, always a guffaw away with THOSE TEETH.

There is one bias in the show, and it’s thoroughly deserved: the kids who chose adoption were treated like royalty, but it was clear that they didn’t have to edit their personalities to fit that role.

One of the Mamas (Maci)

That would be Catelynn and Tyler, two teens who are virtually superior to their peers in terms of seeing the pregnancy appropriately in the long-term. They come from broken families (an alcoholic mother, a prison-seasoned father who claims his son is not “ the cowboy” he thought he was) and RECOGNIZE IT(!), and are determined to afford their daughter a better life than what they are currently able to give her. The most startling aspect of their story, however, was how little support they received from their family about their decision. It shows a great deal about our society, one in which teenage pregnancy is common and ignorable, and adoption is thought beneath a struggling family. And, oh, how I cried. I am not made of stone.

The United States has a problem. For an industrialized nation, our babies-havin’-babies quota is out of control. Let’s do the numbers game. In a given year, 730,000 girls get pregnant (3/10 girls are pregnant before age 20), half of those babies are born, and of those born a mere 1% are put up for adoption. Factor in the oft-failing sexual education programs implemented in schools, and there’s no real reason for the numbers to be shifted. “16 and Pregnant” puts faces and stories to the epidemic in this country, without glamorizing the situation.

The Juno Factor

Talking to a friend about this had him initially less than convinced that the show was beneficial in any way. “Okay, let’s just be honest here,” he questioned. “Would this kind of show exist in a world before Juno?” There are obvious nods to the movie throughout the lot of this series. From the indie tracks humming away in the background while diapers are changed and the sketch pad montage: this show wishes that Diablo Cody nursed it from her very teat. I conceded in conversation that its existence might have been stifled otherwise, but added in that this show coupled with that movie has allowed the tone of teenage pregnancy to shift in public conversation. It’s not a Lifetime movie and it’s not an episode of Maury; it’s hasty acts and hard decisions and hurried youth. And, truthfully, these kids aren’t all idiots, they are just generally misguided. It gives some hope in that sense.

These girls also get to be more than public service announcements, there are moments of comedy and joy, just as there should be in a television show that is supposed to simply be recorded reality.

The Single Mother Syndrome

Bless you, MTV (never thought I’d say that and mean it) for representing single mothers on the show as well. Whether it’s Ann Coulter’s batshit rants about single mothers single-handedly destroying the fabric of our nation, or the triumphs of this sizable group of individuals going virtually unrecognized and uncelebrated (don’t even get me started on the double-edged sword of government assistance!), MTV finally gives a direct wave in their general direction and doesn’t make it look less than the experience of the couples featured.

This show, ultimately, does teenage pregnancy right. You’re allowed to get infuriated with the girl who is too lazy to do anything for herself and are not forced to think the situation remedied itself completely by delivery time. You’re also made to appreciate the difficulty of an atypical teen pregnancy that ends in adoption as being just as emotionally strenuous, albeit in a different way. Voyeuristic? Invasive? These girls are also presented with handheld cameras and given the opportunity to narrate the stories from start to finish. It is as purely their own as it can be, and with matters of having a child at hand, I doubt there was an overwhelming concern for what they might be showcasing to the general public. There’s supposed to be another season; that is both disheartening (due to the sheer availability) and enlightening. Now, MTV, just fix one thing: let’s actually represent minority women next time and maybe somehow represent women who choose the abortion route. I mean, it won’t make a tv show, but their stories deserve to be told, too.

Now I’m going to go off and hate myself, for birthing this blog over teenage pregnancy. I should have learned better than that. My mama raised me right.

Tweet This Post