Bristol Palin, who’s going to be the answer to a lot of trivia questions a decade from now, is on the front cover of People magazine. In it, she talks about how unglamorous life with a tiny baby is:
Girls need to imagine and picture their life with a screaming newborn baby and then think before they have sex,” she says of being a teenage mom. “Think about the consequences … If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex. Trust me. Nobody.”
I’m not sure she’s quite got the point here. If the message is that life with a screaming newborn baby can be stressful, well yes, that’s true. It’s equally unpleasant to be sleep-deprived and subject to nursing woes and diaper changes when not a teenager. And while having other adults around to share in the baby-care makes life easier, the basic hassle involved in the tending of small children is pretty standard, whether you’re a teenager, an adult, married, single, a stay at home mom, work outside the home, you name it.
Bristol Palin’s problem isn’t that she has a screaming newborn baby per se; it’s that she has this baby with whose father she’s already broken up, a not uncommon result of a high school romance; that she’s still totally dependent upon her parents and thus pretty much by definition not prepared to parent herself; and that she has none of the supports in place to help her cope and adjust that are more likely to be available when you are married and at least semi-autonomous before having children.
Don’t get me wrong, if “sex=screaming baby=no social life” stops kids in high school from having sex, more power to them. The thing is, to a certain extent, that equation holds true for adults too, not just teens. The issue isn’t how much work babies are, it’s how much more bearable the work is when you’ve got a husband and supportive family and a bit more maturity to fall back on.
And it’s a wee bit irresponsible for People to run a cover of a beautifully made up, slim and rested-looking Bristol in cap and gown, toting Tripp as an accessory. The text may read “don’t do this” but the sub-text is telling a different story.
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Wish they had asked you to write the article, Rebecca. People need to hear the voice of reason and logic. What they don’t need is any message that babies are bad news. Which is what this cover says to me first thing.
I agree with your remarks here, Rebecca. However, Bristol is only 18 so I am more apt to cut her a bit more slack. She is trying her hardest it seems to make the best of her life after some bad mistakes and try and convince others. I think her intention is to direct this message to teens only. In previous interviews, she has stated that she wished “she were married and had a house and career” before Tripp.
And I think it is well-known that People is not a responsible publication and I don’t think we can expect anything else. It is basically a tabloid. The last Palin cover they had featured the headline “Babies, Lies and Scandal” printed over a picture of Sarah and Trig. They were coming to do a story on Bristol either way, so she may as well try and control the message.
Wouldn’t a more effective message to teen girls involve ideas around girl power and not giving in to the guys, etc.? I am not saying Bristol should take up this msg, as she probably does not want to talk about her breakup – but it seems that the msg of some dumb punk like Levi leaving you with all the work etc. is the better message. As you say, it is easier in a committed relationship.
Your comments are right on. The picture is more powerful than the words and the picture makes it look like a pretty cool life – sweet little baby, graduating anyway, she looks great, what’s not to like? Of course, it sells magazines doesn’t it. The mixed messages are from the publisher, not Bristol, and I wouldn’t expect her to be able to articulate it the way you have.
“And I think it is well-known that People is not a responsible publication and I don’t think we can expect anything else. It is basically a tabloid. The last Palin cover they had featured the headline “Babies, Lies and Scandal” printed over a picture of Sarah and Trig.”
That was Us Weekly, not People.
I disagree that it’s irresponsible for People to run a cover picture of Bristol looking pretty and happy with her baby. I think it sends a positive message that getting pregnant as a teenager doesn’t have to ruin your life – which is what a lot of pro-choice advocates would like teenagers to believe it does. It probably gives hope to teenage girls who are already pregnant that Bristol was able to finish high school and loves her baby, and I don’t think girls are going to get pregnant so they can be like Bristol Palin.
is being a teenage parent the worst thing that can happen to a person? No. But let’s be realistic, having a baby during your teenage years minimizes your own potential. While Bristol is probably going to be ok, she will have to make decisions that are not best for her now but what’s best for her baby. And Bristol is one of the lucky ones because she will probably be able to go to a university. For many teen parents affording a baby and going to college is just not possible. And even the career she picks will have to be what is most flexible and practical rather than what her dream career was prior to having a baby.
Perhaps Bristol and People magazine should also have emphasized the other, more lethal things that can happen as a result of unprotected sex, such as AIDS, STD’s, HPV, etc. Yes pregnancy is something young girls should be concerned about, but a baby is certainly not the worst that can happen.