Azzara: Media’s teen pregnancy hype could lessen taboo

Did anyone happen to catch the movie “The Pregnancy Pact” on Lifetime? It… Did anyone happen to catch the movie “The Pregnancy Pact” on Lifetime? It premiered in January, and according to the buzz surrounding the movie — including a good amount of Facebook statuses, which always seem to be a reflection of popular opinion — many of you not only watched it, but you thoroughly enjoyed it.

For those who missed it, the movie is based on a true story about a group of Massachusetts teenagers who agree to get pregnant and raise children at the same time. If this sounds a little far-fetched and ridiculous, allow me to repeat: This movie is based on a true story that made newspaper headlines in 2008.

Of course, the movie was entertaining, and I’ll be the first to admit that I put my weekend plans on hold in order to watch it. However, it got me thinking: How could teenage pregnancy — which has, in our culture, been such a taboo topic for so long — actually be desirable to a group of teens? That’s the angle that fascinated viewers.

It appears the teen pregnancy image has been eased, allowing networks such as Lifetime and MTV — home of “Sixteen and Pregnant” and its spin-off, “Teen Mom” — to capitalize on the issue. At the same time, we should be careful not to reshape the taboo, especially not in the name of entertainment.

A recent editorial in The New York Times highlights some teen pregnancy rates. All this media attention could actually be bringing about some negative consequences. The article cites a recent study from the Guttmacher Institute that found the number of pregnancies among girls from the ages of 15 to 19 has been on the rise in recent years in the U.S. This statistic is made all the more troubling because, before 2005, these rates had been decreasing for more than 10 years.

The editorial places the blame somewhere between a lack of contraceptive use among teenagers and the Bush administration’s ineffective sexual education programs, but I can’t help but feel the media has at least some part in it — and not just for its hyper-sexualized music videos and magazines. In the entertainment world, teen pregnancy is currently in style.

It all started with 2007’s “Juno,” in which a high school student gets pregnant after having unprotected sex, decides to have the baby and gives it up for adoption. She still manages to live happily ever after with her endearingly awkward baby daddy.

After that came the more realistic portrayals of teen pregnancy. “16 and Pregnant,” which documents the pregnancies of real teenagers, premiered in the summer of 2009 with wild success. Teenage pregnancy has also recently been a major topic in shows like CWTV’s remake of “90210,” and ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” News reports about pregnant teens such as Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin have been omnipresent in newspapers, magazines and blogs for the past few years.

It would be deceitful to say that media coverage always presents teenage pregnancy in a positive way. In fact, this is rarely the case. Most of the time it highlights the life-changing accident that it usually is.

Regardless of its connotations, the prolific portrayal of pregnant teens in recent media makes it seem like unprotected sexual activity among teenagers is common. The more we are exposed to these ideas, the more it seems like getting pregnant as a teen really isn’t that big of a deal.

I won’t make any judgments here about maturity level and the necessity of being fully prepared to become sexually active, although I will say that the media has noticeably overlooked these important factors in their portrayal of teenage motherhood.

After all, according to what these kids see in the media, it’s a common enough occurrence. Hey, maybe they’ll even get to be on MTV.

Perhaps I’m being a little too dramatic, but you get the idea. In a culture where teenage pregnancy is shaking off its taboo, it seems necessary now more than ever to stop glamorizing it. Facts are facts, and even if we love to see teenage parents on TV, society’s recent fascination with teen pregnancy could skew views.

E-mail Katie at kna6@pitt.edu.