Essay on Mtvs 16 Pregnant Glorifies Teen Pregnancy

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 86 percent of mothers who give birth out-of-wedlock are teenagers. MTV’s show â€Å"16 Pregnant,† which has only been on air since June 2009, is already reflecting the rapid boom in teenage pregnancy across various cities in America. Since the early eighties MTV has been considered somewhat of a cultural phenomenon for American adolescents and its depiction of gender has a strong impact that continues to this day (Holtzman 2000). Created by Morgan J. Freeman (director of teen shows Dawson’s Creek and Laguna Beach), the show â€Å"16 Pregnant† has been said to be guilty of exacerbating, normalizing and even glorifying teen pregnancy. Perhaps, it’s just reflecting a current social dilemma†¦show more content†¦Her life becomes a lot more complicated when she finds out she is pregnant. Farrah’s best friend turns on her spreading nasty rumors, forcing Farrah to finish school onlin e. Farrahs ex-boyfriend, also the babys father, begins to harass her after he finds out she is pregnant which leads her to change her number. â€Å"I would have never lost my virginity to someone I believed would treat me like this,† Farrah exclaims about her ex-boyfriend. Farrah struggles with single motherhood and has to deal with a judgmental parent who looks down upon her decisions. Episode two again reinforces traditional American cultural beliefs of female gender roles by portraying the woman as the single mother, ultimately responsible for the child, showing the girl dealing with emotional problems while trying to hold the family together, tasks and situations often associated with femininity. These images become engrained on a young viewers minds and being sixteen and pregnant becomes just another fad for young girls to consider. â€Å"MTV has a long history of reflecting the lives of our viewers with compelling reality stories, says Tony DiSanto, MTVs president of programming. The program’s featured girls come from rural Mid-Western or Southern states, usually from small, working-class towns, in attempt to appeal to teenage girls of the same background. The implicit message at theShow MoreRelatedArgumentative Essay1417 Words   |  6 PagesVictoria Okafor Dr. Stainbrook English 111-121 02 December 2015 Do TV Shows Like 16 and Pregnant Promote or Discourage Teenage Pregnancy? Teenage pregnancy has become a major issue in today’s society for our adolescents. This is a major problem for all who are involved. It creates hurt and a struggle for on the parents, especially for the mother (Gonchar and Schulten). Also for the parent(s) of the teenager this creates struggles for them because more often than not, they end up with the loadRead MoreThe Decline Of Teen Pregnancy Rates1272 Words   |  6 Pages110-07 The Decline In Teen Pregnancy Rates Over the last few decades the rates in teen pregnancy have been a debate; did they rise over the past few years or did they actually decline? Contrary to some doctors and politicians the numbers associated with teen pregnancy have decline over the last couple of years. Although there are still people out there who believe this to be an issue it’s made more of an issue than it actually is. The ads and commercials are set out to scare teen-agers into believingRead MoreAre you aware of what your teenage daughter is watching on TV? You might think you know, but600 Words   |  3 Pagesthink about how television may be impacting your daughter? 66% of teens say they are influenced by TV shows. Therefore, next time you see your daughter watching TV think about how those shows may be influencing her. Television nowadays is having a negative influence on teenage girls. For instance television shows often glorify negative behavior such as the use of drugs, alcohol, and violence. An example of these kinds of shows is MTV’s reality TV show â€Å"The Real World†. In the twentieth season TheRead Moreteen mom1451 Words   |  6 Pagesto three million viewers tuning in to watch the show Teen Mom, which is a spinoff of the reality show 16 and Pregnant that started in 2009. The girls on the show have volunteered themselves to put their lives on television and have people across the nation watch them struggle to survive as a teenager with a child right by their side. Todays pop culture celebrates teen pregnancy by having shows on television like MTVs Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant, not to mention, the stars on the show being glamourized