This morning, as I was doing dishes, my brother was watching a show called "16 and Pregnant." I have serious objections to this show, but I am not his mother. I let him know I didn't like it, but other than that all I could really do was just not watch it. Anyway, I did overhear some of it since the kitchen is close to the TV. It got me thinking about one of my "soapbox" issues, which is the fact that the media never presents adoption as a viable option.
Just as I was thinking that, I hear a mother on the show telling her daughter that adoption is the most loving thing she could do. I went in and told my brother that I wished the girl would listen to her mother. He then got kinda mad at me and started defending the girl's right to keep the baby. He included as his reasons that my married sister isn't giving up her baby and that the teenager's mother would there to help her. At that point, I had to walk away before a serious argument started.
This incident confirmed some of my greatest fears. While I never doubted it before, I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt the media is an extremely powerful force. My brother has weaknesses just as anyone does, but he is not a bad person. I truly believe shows that glamorize unwed mothers have poisoned the minds of today's teenagers. This is exactly why I hate that adoption is hardly ever considered. And the idea that it's okay because the teenager's family will help, well, I don't even know how to respond to that without becoming overly emotional. It made me think that these mothers need to stop enabling their daughters, but then I wondered what would happen to the baby. There are no easy answers there.
Anyway, sorry for all the heavy thoughts. They were weighing me down, and writing helps me lift that weight sometimes. I know that with the dark there is light, and that's not all bad out there. It's just scary sometimes.
6 years ago
I hear ya, sister. I hate what the media conveys to us on so many levels. Not only could they show adoption as a viable option, but how about abstinence, as if teenagers will just never help themselves. I know many make mistakes regardless, but plenty can wait until they're married. Then, there are the myriad other ridiculous parts of society that are glamorized in the media that I just don't want to get into, but pretty much we don't watch much tv. It's mostly all garbage.
ReplyDeleteSlightly unrelated, but this comment made me think of one of my pet peeves when I was engaged. We had a longer engagement for the Mormon world (6 months), and we got so much criticism because people thought the tempation would be too great. Seriously, we were two adults who actually could control themselves and even--gasp--make their own decision regarding the wedding date! Anyway, to bring it back to topic, people can control themselves if they choose too. Amazing, but true.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget when I was in like the 5th grade (5th grade!) and one of my friends was arguing in favor of abortion. She said, "Well, what if two people are in love, but just not ready to have a child?" And I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of, "They are the ones who did the deed, they need to accept the consequences." It just kills me that people don't even THINK of sex as an action that has serious consequences.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't even get me started on all the unwed mothers out there. I agree with you, Amanda. Adoption never seems to be put out there as a good choice. And it's awful.