December 20, 2007
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Juno vs. Jamie
So unless you’ve been under a rock for the past few days, you’ve heard that Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. My friend Kate texted me Tuesday night to let me know (essentially right after it was posted) and I called Andy to tell him – that particular piece of gossip was too good to pass up . . . it was a very convoluted emergency phone tree.
My initial reaction was “bwahahaahhahahahahahahahafsdjiojdsoijdf – can’t breathe – aodijfpodijd hahahah”.
But now that I see the way the media’s been covering it, I’ve been sort of disgusted at everyone’s general consensus, especially when you compare it to how single moms have been portrayed in the media as of late.
I saw Juno a couple weeks ago and loved it – it’s the story of a high school junior who was with the wrong guy at the wrong time and ends up pregnant. She tells her parents and although they’re surprised and disappointed in her for being irresponsible, they support her; the first thing her mom says is that they’ve got to get her prenatal vitamins, not an accusatory “HOW COULD YOU?!” or some variant. Ellen Page does a phenomenal job of being a girl who’s out of place and can’t figure out how she’ll manage maintaining normalcy being a social outcast who will be having a child in the not-so-distant future.
The movie’s been nominated for Golden Globes and will probably pick up a couple of Oscar nods, and rightfully so; it takes a socially taboo concept and turns it in such a way that the protagonist is more of a relatable heroine than a heinous pariah.
Now we’ve got the real-life case of a high school junior who . . . gets friendly . . . with her boyfriend of two years and ends up pregnant. She tells her parents, and they go to a magazine to set the record straight and quash rumors before they spin out of control. And I’m surprised that Perez Hilton hasn’t Photoshopped a scarlet A onto Jamie Lynn’s Juicy Couture jumpsuit based on the way the media’s spun this particular fairy tale.
I’m not going to make judgments on whether or not teen pregnancy is morally right or wrong – it is what it is – but it’s funny that people are so up in arms about of this girl who’s having a baby out of wedlock (as about 50% of children today, say census records) and has spoken of her firm intentions to raise her child in Louisiana (away from the paparazzi, Les Deux and Lindsay Lohan) so that the baby will have a somewhat normal life.
Teen pregnancy is a real issue, and maybe this’ll be an opportunity to take an objective look at how the whole issue is handled, stop pointing fingers (mainly on the media, which is apparently glamorizing young pregnancy – I beg to differ) and find out how to better educate kids on the matter.
J-Lynn has a huge opportunity ahead of her, and I hope she uses it to her advantage; maybe she’s looking to be a different teenager than the other Hollywood pop tarts who slug down vodka shots and end up with washed up careers at the age of 22.
I don’t want to say that she’s an angel or a heroine, but I’d hardly call her Hester.Edit: to those of you who think Juno wasn’t necessarily with the wrong guy, I ‘spose I think she was ill equipped to handle the situation, as she put it, and being with your best friend who isn’t your boyfriend at the time would make him “the wrong guy”, in my opinion. Let’s duke it out. I’ve seen it twice now and feel ready to debate.
Also, who’s Hester? Here, goofballs.
Comments (226)
An interesting post
I find it hard to make a judgment on whether teens pregnancy is morally right or wrong and back up with a good reason in what I think
Teens pregnancy has been in the news quite a lot in the United Kingdom and there is always discussions on the morning breakfast news programmes - as well as the 24 hours news channels.
I would Hester! HEster! HESTER!
Just kidding.
I can’t wait to see Juno.
As for JLS… I wish her all of the luck in the world… she is going to need it.
Right on.
Great post.
I just shake my head at the whole Spears family…there’s nothing I can say (good or bad) that would make any kind of difference. So, I’ll just shake my head and pray that things work out as they’re supposed to for them.
I never really pay attention to hollywood news, but this one is quite the interesting one. Well, that girl has a lot of decisions–more than most teenagers–and she will need the proper guidance to make the correct ones. Hopefully her mother will help her out in the decision making.
Fantastic post, by the way.
I think children will soon become like those little dogs that all the actresses carry around.
interesting post. juno sounds good, but i doubt it’ll be here any time.
personally, sometimes i think it’s the media which is fucking people up.
I could care less about general media frenzies.
I ONLY CARE ABOUT THE KOCH!
Koch got too much class to tap that underage ass!
Is the issue that she is pregnant and single, that she is a pregnant and a teen, or that she is pregnant and under 18?
It seems to me that if you want people to not be influenced by a decision (which is what the reports I’ve heard are talking about), then you quit covering it.
well stated. when i heard on the news, i was shocked for a few seconds, then felt sad for her. it’s not as if teenage pregnancy is a new phenomenon but she’s under so much more scrutiny. it is irresponsible but most people’s every move and mistake is not broadcast for everyone to know.
not sure whether this story will assist in reducing the number of teenage pregnancies but i hope we as a society can at least agree we’d like to see less instances of it and work proactively to see that become reality. part of the issue: little boys need to man up too.
1. Juno is awesome!
2. Who is Jamie Lynn Spears?
oh man, at a small dinner gathering that my friend was hosting a couple nights ago, two of my friends, one girl and one guy got into the most heated argument over this whole Jamie Lynn Prego situation. my girlfriend held the position that since she’s in the public eye and is the star of a nickelodean kids show, spears jr. is a role-model and thus should behave as so, and basically condemned whats happened. my guyfriend argued that teens the world over are having pre-marital sex and are getting pregnant and that it shouldn’t be jamie’s responsibility to present “model” behaviour especially cause she’s too young to know better anyways.
it got so heated that we had to call a time-out and send one of them into the kitchen to cool off. all the rest of us were just sitting there exchanging furtive glances at one another, talk about awkward.
to an extent i actually agree with both of them in that she is a role-model whether she likes it or not, but also she’s definitely ain’t the first and won’t be the last 16 year old to get pregnant. but i think its the media’s fault for letting this spin so out of control and essentially for glamorizing teen pregnancy.
p.s. i heart michael cera. can’t wait to watch juno.
I pray for the best for her.
Great post!
Merry Christmas Natalia!
Great post. I had a baby at 16. The pregnancy was the result of violence, but I never spoke of it until she was old enough to understand the roots of her conception. She’s a great kid and I wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world. I put up with a lot of condemnation from strangers, but I just ignored it mostly. Once I was in McDonalds and this older guy asked me if she was my kid. He said I wasn’t old enough to be a mom. I told him he was wrong…I was obviously old enough as evidenced by the fact that I was indeed a mom. He just looked disgusted and walked away.
It seems to me that people mostly condemn other when they don’t really want to face their own hipocracy. It’s just a theory though.
Merry Christmas.
ryc: Indeed, I have learned your ways, and I am humbled, to tell the truth. But seriously… can you feature yourself? Because I honestly love the way you’ve written this post. In either case, I’m subbing. ^_^
Haha, Jamie’s going to end up like Britney.
Hey, I empathized with Hester, thanks very much. :p
Pregnant teenagers…I can’t judge them, I have friends who are one of them.
It cost my friends’ parents a load of money and I don’t think they were happy about that cause babies are expensive.
I
Michael Cera.
She wasn’t with the wrong guy…
who’s hester…?
oo juno i wanna see that! looks good.
i honestly think the media and everyone are being too hard on jamie. i mean if she wasnt britneys sister no one would care but oh noooo shes gonna be as horrible as britney now ooooooo. its so stupid.
i support her and i think she’ll be a good mom.
Does anyone know if it’s going to be an issue that her boyfriend was 3 years older than her at the time? From what I know that makes the act statutory rape in LA. I’m not commenting on the morality of the law, but just curious if anything is going to happen.
Teen pregnancy is morally wrong.
Any sex BEFORE marriage is morally wrong.
Gosh, it’s amazing how much the world has perverted and unpurified (if that’s a word) God’s gift of sex.
Juno didn’t do it with the wrong guy at the wrong time.
She actually liked him and he liked her… Did you not get that out of the movie? lol
I just find it funny that Jamie Lynn Spears, sister of Britney Spears would even THINK to ingage in those kinds of things, I mean come on, if my sister was what, 25? had 2 kids she has no custody over, has been divorced twice & if im not mistaken, is married and pregnant again, that in itself would be all the birth control id ever need!!
You could either say “yay or nay” to this sort of subject. I think it is a travesty that this happened to her so early in life. Maybe it’s her journey. You’d never know. It takes two to tango and she knew what she was getting herself into the minute she took off those skivies. And just to let you know Juno is just a movie. Yeah, it was cute in the way they wrote it, but unfortunately that isn’t the real world. Especially for it having a happy ending. But Jamie Lynn does have have the financial support to aide her through this, but let’s face it it always doesn’t end up in a happy situation. I’ve been around this sort of deal my whole life. My high school had a built in nursery for the teenage mothers to go and bring their children to school, so they can take care of them. It’s a hard job being called out of class to feed their children or nurse their sick babies. And these mothers that I know are still paying for their actions to this day. They weren’t able to go to college and working crappy jobs just to support their children. So, I think that’s something everyone should focus on.
80% of the women that I work with in my fast-food job had children out of wedlock in their teens. I don’t think Jamie Lynn Spears will be less prepared to raise her child than these women were, with all the help available to her.
I thought the Juno soundtrack was pretty good.
I’m the father.
wait, is that good or bad?
I guess I could use a new car.
I suppose this girl is getting so much press because she is an example of what happens to girls all over the world. Hey, at least she probably makes enough money off of whatever she does to support the child when it is born, as I have heard she is some sort of actress (I think). That’s a lot more than can be said for a large portion of pregnant teens who are too scared to tell people and don’t have jobs that make a living wage. Maybe Spears could give her publicity to a good cause of supporting pregnant teens who aren’t in her privileged position? Though she may just want everyone to stop judging her and back off, which is totally understandable. I think we should focus more on helping the problem of teen pregnancy (like, ending the negative stigma of buying condoms or visiting Planned Parenthood), rather than picking apart the private life of a public person. Hopefully she and he boyfriend can make it through this hellish attack on her life and be able to raise a kid that isn’t screwed up.
Juno is fantastic. I expected it to be like Saved (but without the religious aspect), and it wasn’t…it was better. Saw it at a free screening in Berkeley (CA) earlier this month and the actress who played the girl in the movie was there for Q and A afterwards. Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, Allison Janey, and so much more awesome.
The media is horrible for ragging on Spears. People like to watch celebrities mess up because it reminds them that they are not so different from regular people.
Though there are perks of being a celebrity (money!) if people bothered to think, it probably would suck to be exploited all the time. And they are just regular people who mess up like the rest of us, there are a lot of teen pregnancies, Spears is no different.
Who does everyone think they are, honestly? The only person who lived a sinless life died and then rose up to heaven years and years ago to save all of us, to help us to learn, and he is not condemning anyone.
No one should be judging her because every person on this earth has sinned before, so she goofed up, at least she’s trying to fix it.
As for the whole “Omg she’s pregnant” thing, anyone who has sex can get pregnant and most sixteen year olds are having sex. So, especially if you are having sex(not saying that everyone is) there is no reason to judge her.
Living in a small town I’ve seen the pregnancy freak out… “Omg so and so got pregnant, what a slut”, and I honestly want to laugh in the hypocrites’ faces, because they are having sex too, so it just as easily could have been them… anyway that is my strong opinion on the teen pregnancy issue.
muzical writer, it’s the 21st century – embrace the fact that our world is made up of different opinions and different stances on premarital sex.
I agree with you all the way on how media is attacking Jamie-Lynn for being pregnant; I also agree with you “wrong guy, wrong time” stuff is true, having sex with your best friend who is what she thought of the time, is totally the wrong guy. Who would’ve thought she’d fall in love with him, REALLY.
great observation. Teen pregnancy has become an issue, and although it probably shouldn’t be happening in the first place, it’s a terrible thing to look down on the girls who do decide to go through with the pregnancy. Or to call it a ‘wrong thing. In a way, I’m a little thankful that the media has suddenly been calling the issue of pregnancy to light. Now it’s starting to get to the point where it’s not the end of the world to be a pregnant teen, because the media is suddenly ‘glamorizing’ is, as you so aptly put it. Pregnancy should never carry a social stigma of any sort, and now it seems the media has, in it’s own weird way, help assuage that stigma.
And YES, Juno deserves every award coming to it. I haven’t seen it yet, but it looks wonderful. Thanks for the post!
To the person above me: what constitutes a marriage? A judge telling you to sign papers? Or some man who preaches the bible to the masses making the decision? In every culture, marriage has its legal definitions and its moral definitions. Morally, there’s a consensus on the definition: marriage is a union of two souls. Who’s to say my soul isn’t united with my boyfriend’s?
People are going to live their life the way they want to, so why waste time being judgmental? You’d only lose precious time and your voice trying to preach to the masses. Live your life the way you want, and let them do the same. After all, we were all born in sin, and the only way to eliminate sin is to have an upstanding relationship with God.
Anyways, my first reaction to the Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy was “wow, what a bad move on her part”, only because I had recently read an article in OK! magazine about her staying away from the temptations of stupid star behavior. Then after reading your post, I have to agree with you: the media is blowing this (like every other story) out of proportion. Teens have sex every day. Babies are born every day to parents that aren’t legally married. I have friends who have children, some engaged, some aren’t. But why is it that I won’t judge them for having children, but I will judge a perfect stranger, only because she’s someone in the spotlight.
Media does a good job of turning the world against people/groups of people. Just think of how all Muslims (and anybody that was/looked of Middle Eastern descent) were treated after 9-11.
This has been a hot topic in our home recently as we have a tween daughter who was interested in it all. She likes J-Lynns show and was shocked that she is pregnant. Yet, I must say what has shocked me more, is the responses this young lady is getting from the public at large.
I read a comment from a group of mothers that said “She was suppose to be the role model for our daughters, to teach them right from wrong. Now what? Way to screw that up.” I don’t normally get into this sort of thing, but I must admit that comment sort of hacked me off.
First of all, Why was SHE suppose to be anyone’s daughters role model? My daughter thinks she’s funny and cute but our kids get their role modeling at home, from us. We teach them their values, their moral codes and we boost their self esteem. I have never thought it was any actor or actresses job to do that.
What we forget so quickly is that everyone we watch on T.V. is getting paid to do a job and that job is to pretend. Pretend to be someone or something else, to create a character. It’s called ACTING. Yes, it’s entertainment and yet I believe it needs to stop there and when we get angry at a 16 year old for making a bad judgement call, because she isn’t fulfilling her duties to us, I think we have taken it a bit too far.
Ms. Spears is going to have to grow up much faster than she ever imagined. Was her decision wise? No, but that’s really not the issue anymore. The issue is now the child that is on the way and the best thing for his or her life. She has a lot to take in in the next few months and she will have some tough roads ahead of her without a doubt. She is going to be facing a lot of choices with the decision she made but what everyone seems to forget, is that this young lady is not in our family. She is not OUR child and we have NO say so in her life.
There have been some pretty awful things said about her in the last few weeks and I just have to wonder if we would be so self righteous if it was one of our own children facing this issue and would we want the matter to be up for public debate? I understand she’s in the public eye, it’s going to be that way, but now is not the time for that. Now is the time for her and her family to rally together and face the days ahead.
My prayers are with her, her unborn child and everyone involved. I pray that God will guide and direct her and that she will discern as much wisdom as she can in the months and years to come. My other prayer for her is that people would step back, give her room to breath and let her do what she has to do, to make this transition as smooth as it can possibly be.
*has been under a rock for the past few days*
I’m sorry, but being pregnat cannot be morally wrong. I can understand how you can see premarital sex as being immoral, but every child is a gift from God and is created in his image. (this applies to the post directly above mine).
I think that Juno was outstanding. It handles the topic in a very positive way. And I agree, she was with the wrong guy. It’s wrong place, wrong time situation. He’s her best friend, not her boyfiiend and it shold never have happened.
Mikey
It doesn’t make her evil that Jamie Lynn got pregnant when she’s like, what, 16? Is does make her pretty stupid imo. Not too many people that age are well equipped to care and and raise a family at that age. If she is one of the few that can make a wonderful really young mother, good for her. Add the fact that she has an insane older sister and the odds aren’t in her favor.
And Juno was a good movie. And to go back to the issue being not if teen pregnancy is “evil” or “morally wrong” but merely is it wise thing for most people? Juno realized it wasn’t too smart getting pregnant that young.
teen pregnancy is an issue. and alot of it is due to improper education. “abstenece only” education just isn’t good enough. I’m a virgin and thats my choice but of my friends, im in the minority. and my friends aren’t bad people. so where’s the line between teen sex and teen pregnancy? education. kids need to understand the risks of sex AND how to lessen them should they decide they are mature enough to have it.
I really wanted to see Juno before, but now that you say you loved it (I haven’t heard anyone else talk about it, as it’s not out in theaters around where I live) and about Oscar/Globes I say it’s a must-see.
In response to muzical_writer735, I think you can say sex before marriage is wrong if you want to, that’s your opinion and to each his own and what-not, but I don’t think that teen pregnancy itself is morally wrong… Like, getting pregnant can’t be considered wrong if it’s an accident, even if you feel what caused it is. *Example!!* Murdering the mail man is pretty darn morally wrong, but dropping a gun in your house and having it go off, shoot through the window, and hit the poor guy isn’t morally wrong… it’s just kinda weird. And unfortunate. Wait did that even help prove my point? lol. The resulting pregnancy really could be considered a punishment or gift from God, depending on how you look at it, but a life is not.. wrong…
Anyway, I like your post it was a good read for sure!
Firstly, I don’t think anyone can decide someone else was with the wrong guy…even though Juno’s a fictional character, unless she said she was with the wrong guy, that’s not really up for anyone else to decide. Nice thought-provoking entry
As for sex before marriage being morally wrong, (which is addressed to some of the comments, not the original post) I don’t think it is. I think it can be a mistake, and it can be wrong, but I don’t think it’s immoral. Which is to say that it’s not a good idea, but you’re not going to go to hell for having sex before marriage.
Also, I don’t think God intended to allow us to let the state define our marriages. I’m madly in love with my boyfriend and I’m planning on being with him forever. We’ve only been together for a year and three months, but why wait to have sex if I’m this devoted to him and he’s devoted to me? Basically, in our hearts and minds, we’re married. We want to be together forever. That’s more than some people can say about their marriages. In this case, your intentions can be more meaningful than your actions.
This would be kind of a weird situation but say we’d been together for two years and hadn’t had sex, then we get into a freak car accident and we’re lying in the middle of the road dying. I don’t want my last thoughts to be regrets about not having sex with someone I was completely devoted to just because someone told me it was “wrong.”
How could it possibly be wrong to be with someone completely when you love them completely?
Maybe this attitude comes from the fact that I’m not a religious person, but I consider myself very spiritual, I believe in God, and my beliefs are actually pretty important to me. I go to church because my boyfriend’s Christian, we bless our food, we pray together, but technically we’re having sex before marriage. And I don’t feel like I’m doing anything immoral.
That’s just my two cents.
amazing post. im going to have to go see juno now.
Hester?….
Great post! =)
I should point out that less and less couples are getting married in Japan–does that mean they should never have sex? (for all of you who say that sex before marriage is immoral) The media needs to focus on more important issues, not what stars do; these things can happen to any one of us. Our dirty laundry can just as easily be aired out for everyone to see, so we should think twice before we judge.
i guess i have been under a rock.
good post though.
Wow, who are we to judge what is morally wrong. I don’t remember sex before marrage as one of the 10 commandments. Nor do I remember being pregnate as a teen being in the ten commandments. I do remember a little saying, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone” I believe Jesus said that, so Muzical Writer 735, if you haven’t sinned then you go ahead and throw that stone, stand on your high hourse and continue with your Morals. A child is a gift from God, if she wasn’t supposed to have children then God would not have allowed her to concive. They knew it could happen, nothing is 100%, except not having sex. I don’t know why her life and that of her sisters is any of our buisness. I am not fans but think they should be able to live their lives without having all of us judging them. Yes they made mistakes, but keeping her child is not a sin, nor is trying to get way from stalkers with cameras.
i don’t know how much you check perez, but according to him, casey aldridge is no longer suspected to be jamie lynn’s baby’s daddy =O
it’s allegedly some old man that works with production of Zoey 101!yikes, DRAMA, right?
Oh and one more thing my brother just got back from Iraq, I think the issues facing our country should not include the lives of people who do nothing to better our lives but entertain us. We should be concerning ourselves with real life issues not a young girl who made an error in judgement or her sister.
hmmm… I think it’s funny that that is a ‘talkative’ issue now but it wasn’t a few years ago when it was happening more oftenly.
I also don’t thin that you’ve had anyone close to you go through that.
My cousin got pregnant at 14 and had her baby out of wedlock, she’s still stupid and he’s a drug dealer rude piece of trash.
My other cousin got pregnant as well…she aborted the baby though. In my opinion she did the right thing.
And my friend basically killed it before it got serious. It’s how real kids deal with pregnancy :/
I don’t think that “Juno” Justifies any teen pregnancy specially when most teen pregnancies do NOT end up with HAPPY ENDINGS. This is a Christian society with Christian morals :/ wake up.
The fact that Miss JL Spears is preganant is the fact that she’s a whore.
The reason that Juno (yes the FAKE character) is pregnant was because she was stupid.
I’ve seen that movie a couple times too, things get boring in LA, it’s something to do >>
My point is that. the way that ‘Hollywood’ is portraying ‘teen pregnancy’ is not true or right. the way that the movie ‘Juno’ portraying it is not true either. more than half of those teen pregnancies do not happen to white rich people they happen to poor minorities.
Great post!
emmmm the world is so sinful hurts my eyes
Yeah….in america you at least get those ‘important’ stories in the news like Britney’s sister getting up the duff. Much more important to know about of course than the fact the Pakistani opposition leader has been assassinated thus destabilising the entire country. Where is that funny Pakistan country anyway…in Africa..isn’t it…?
Paulie was more… the right guy, but at the wrong time.
And it would be more of a scarlett P..
Great post.
I dont really think that teen pregnancy is moral or not but really more of the impact on the kids itself having a diminished chance for a suitable personal or mental growth. And maybe it is just me, but the reason why tenn pregnancy is the perfect opportunity for some people because it is a pity party or a sort of final laugh for celebrities or pedestrian alike, which makes the person pointing fingers to feel more superior.
The thing that makes me sick about the whole situation is now that Jamie’s pregnant ALL OF A SUDDEN teen pregnancy is a problem that we need to discuss.
Like it didn’t exist until JLS spread her legs.
And I had a good chuckle at your “Normal life” line. Yeah, whatever. She’s already struck a deal with some magazine for the exclusive 1st baby photos. And even if she did move from Hollywood, “Normal” is a hard thing to find with a gene-pool as polluted and trailer-trash as the Spears’.
The real problem is most girls don’t realize how much work a baby is. All most ever see are the cute clothes shopping, the goo-goos, the first ever “ma-ma”. They never think about the landfills full of dirty diapers. The vomit covered clothes. The post-partum depression.
Most 16-year-old girls (in my area at least) are too giggly-stupid to handle driving a car well. But they all think they know everything about babies.
i think the reason why people are so disgusted by jamie lynn spears’ pregnancy is because they would use it to get attention from the public. plus i heard it was a guy thats way older and they don’t want to mention his name cause he can go to jail. haha.
i guess the xangagods are fascinated with jamie lynn…they’ve got my take on featured too.
It is ironic that I stop by here and the comment above me is talking about “trailer-trash”. It’s nice to see such a racist, classist term has been given a standardized hyphen.
good post.
Having been in high school and all that, seeing my friends getting knocked up, its not cute… its not funny, its not sweet… its not even a miracle. I never thought it was anything awesome back in the day, and I still dont… but now in my mid twenties I see even more clealry, that youre still a child at 16.
The girl who plays Juno is also the star in a movie called Hard Candy. She plays a character that goes after a man who seduces girls over the internet. She said,”Just because a girl knows how to imitate a woman, does NOT mean she’s ready to do what a woman does.”
I’m all for sex, but irresponsibility, I am not. Im sure there are people on xanga that had kids at age 12, but Im not gonna make a debate for them. In your teens you are not equipped to financially or psychologically support a baby.
Granted there are people in their 30′s who cant do the same.
Unfortunatley having a child these days is like getting a couture bag or accesory… but you dont pay for it till afterwards. No one considers what the child might want,”Would you want these people for parents?” Its more so an issue of,”Do I want this baby?”
Anyways, back to Jamie Lynn… having seen enough of this go round, its not gossip for me anymore… its a big roll of the eyes and Im over it.
Good post. To answer your question about Hester I assume that is Hester from the Scarlet letter, and excellent book/movie which deals with a single mother, and you should read or watch is a.s.a.p. I also really enjoyed Juno.
Hahaha hester. What an unfortunate name. Not only Hester, but Hester PRYNNE. Her last name offers no relief… I would say that her name is more “ignominious” than Pearl.
You prove a really good point here.
KUUUDOS.
I’m going to see JUNO today after many delays!
I completely agree with you. This was refreshing. It’s wasn’t… kfjdslfdsa JLS is prego let’s blame mom blah blah blah only reference sister and Zoey 101.
Well said. I enjoyed reading. =)
If you like the American version, you should try the Korean version of Juno with English subtitles. It’s entitled Jeni and Juno, but the guy is named Juno in the Korean version, not the girl. Haha. I’ve yet to see either but thanks for the synopsis. Also, I liked how you phrased that one line: “I’m not going to make judgments on whether or not teen pregnancy is morally right or wrong – it is what it is…”
I like what you have to say here. Jamie Lynn isn’t nearly as bad off as a lot of young starlets, even though she’s pregnant. And at least she has the money and the means to raise her baby, unlike a lot of young pregnant moms. I think people may be more shocked at the destruction of the innocent facade she had while on Nickelodeon than anything else. It’s like the whole naughty pictures thing with Vanessa Hudgens (although some pictures are not nearly as big of a deal as a baby). People need to give stars a little slack. They’re real people, too, who make mistakes.
Who didn’t know who Hester was? Read a book, people!
Interesting post.
hey NATaLIA! your website is awsome!!! keep writing!!
It’s only nature.
i want to see juno…
& i brought up the subject of jamie-lynn to my friend yesterday
and she was like whaaaat???
haha
i wish the media would leave these people alone…there are so many things going on around the world that dont get as much coverage as these stories…it seems that it would be best if we just stopped looking at them through a magnifying lens so they could deal with their issues without that added pressure.
LOVED that movie. I also want to have Michael Cera’s baby. : )
oh, and to that “audrasky” person, it is a freakin commandment, just to let you know. ever heard of “thou shalt not commit adultery” ? much?
Is she reading Britney’s book on motherhood?
All jokes aside, She’ll do fine because (i assume) she has familial support and is financially well off (for the moment).
But I think high profile situations like this desensitize the general public (young women and men) to teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy just doesn’t seem as scary as it used to. I don’t even know what that means though.
my 2 cents.
These “single moms” in the media, which sorry, the only one I’ve heard of is Brittney herself, are only being portrayed the way they are. People didn’t just make up things about her or ANYONE for that matter, they bring it on thereselves.
If JLS really has any intentions of straying from the expectations that the media or anyone else has set for her then getting pregnant now, and not so much out of wedlock, but at sixteen is going in the complete and opposite direction. I mean come on, how can you expect any different from her. Yeah, she may not be a druggie or out partying all night but I know plenty of teen parents and the situation has become way too familiar to me on behalf of a lot of these people.
Last and final thought, I don’t see how you think the media is “glamourizing” teen pregnancy. They’re simply doing what they’re paid for, creating a fantasy for people to escape to. Nothing I have seen in the media has promoted anything except how complecated teen pregnancy can be, If anything it’s given a less harsh protray of what it really is, and if anyone see’s something anywhere and all the sudden they want to do it, it’s not the media’s fault, its poor moral upbringing and stupidity.
There are plenty of sixteen-year-olds getting pregnant nowadays. She’s just getting so much attention because she’s a celebrity.
Celebrities are not necessarily role models. Even if they are, fans should pick only certain good qualities to learn from.
Doesn’t anyone care about what the boyfriend thinks?
This was a really good post. And whether you believe this is morally wrong or not J. Spears could of had an abortion and kept it all quite and we would all be none the wiser to it. Im not condoning teen pregnancy but I give Jamie lots of props for being willing to keep the baby whether or not it was a mistake she got pregnant she is taking her consequences like a very mature person bc she could of done alot of other things to get rid of the baby. I know of a girl in my school who had ppl jump on her stomach to terminate the pregnancy. If you think you’re ready to have sex then accept the consequences. I also know people who have had abortions and I used to be completely condemning towards them altho I dont condone them now. I dont think Jamie Lynn will end up like her sister like I said she could of hid it or gotten rid of the baby, she is being very brave because seeing her sister she obviously knows how bad the media can be with news.Hopefully this will bring more awareness to teen pregnancies bc they do happen everyday and I wish Jamie the best of luck and hopefully she doesnt let the media get to her.
What JamieLynn did is wrong. And what about 30% of teenage girls are already pregnant? They are wrong too. Maybe it’s accidental to get pregnant, but still you can have control over yourself. It saids something like such intercourses before marriage is wrong in God’s eyes. These certain intercourses are meant for husbands and wives on their wedding night, or whatever.
JamieLynn is going to end up just like her sister, and I hoped she wouldn’t.
juno was a great movie. i especially loved the way her family (dad and stepmom) were there for her. he wasn’t the wrong guy though. he was the right guy for her, he’s the cheese in her macaroni, they just made a mistake. as for duking it out? i have a tendency to not be a fighter :]] at least not physically anyway. i am planning on seeing it for the 3rd time this week end :]
i too think the media has been way too hard on jamie lynn. the scrutiny that comes with fame is not something i would wish on anybody. her sister and the mistakes she has made have made it a lose/lose situation for jamie.
i admire her decision not to have an abortion because it goes against her faith. an abortion would have been an easy way out for her. the path she has choosen will be hard. i hope she gets all the right kind of support from her family.
great post.
I think it has more to do with her being a Spears more than anything.
I just think having a baby at 16 is too early. Anyway, with how Britney Spears turned out, it is uncertain to say that Jamie Lynn will be a responsible mother.
I loved Juno. And the Jamie Lynn media stampede is the effect of her last name being Spears, I think at least. The girl from the Whale Rider had a baby when she was way young and there was a lot less of a media outcry. She even played Mary in a movie.
im thinking its ironic that j-lynn’s mum is about 2 write a book about parenting when her 2nd daughter winds up preggy.
theres something wrong with society…>.>”
I’m taking a survey. Do you think the death penalty should apply to juveniles? Please comment.
-Nick
i cant wait to watch juno…
jamie on the other hand had a great role model who she could have learned
great things from(sarcasm)…and instead followed in her not so great footsteps.
i as well got preggers at 17.. it’s a difficult time to be in..but it is what it is.
I’m bored bored bored and taking a survey survey survey. Do you believe in ghosts?
Gods gift of sex? um…can I ask you something, muzicalwriter735, if its a gift why cant you use it? Don’t put YOUR morals on other people. Also, teen pregnancy isn’t “morally” wrong it’s irresponsible.
Hey, as long as she doesn’t let her life go completely downhill (like her sister…) I have no problem with the whole situation.
Oh mann. This was an awesome blog posted.
I cannot wait to see Juno and I actually knew who Hester Pyrnne was since I had to read “The Scarlet Letter” in my AP English class.
But poor Jamie. If her sister wasn’t so fucked up, she wouldn’t be getting so much attention about it. And I also heard that her mom told the press just so she could get money… and obviously her mom treats her daughters like piggy banks. And who knows what the boyfriend will be doing in this equation.
Only time will tell.
I really think this was an interesting post. It makes you really think.
P.s. J-lynn being preg made me giggle… she met that boy at church. haha
You know what’s annoying? Teen pregnancy has always been an issue, but nobody cares about any issues until celebrities deal with it.
Also, does anyone ever think that if celebrities weren’t celebrities, they’d maybe get abortions or put their babies up for adoption? But, no, since they’re in the public eye, they’d get too much crap about doing things like that, so they just keep their babies.
Good post, though. Definitely a thinker.
damnit this sounds more like a glorification than it does anything else, like your giving kids a free ticket to pregnancy without repercussion. “oh its so sweet! her family supports her” i tell you what, i do like the japanese model much better than this” “ill give them sweet words and then condone it bullcrap”. all your doing in the movie is teaching kids that its ok to go get pregnant and then their parents will mop up the mess for them, very simple. if my daughter gets pregnant 16 years from now her ass is out on the japanese streets, you reap what you sow. and for that jackass that thought sex is gods gift, get a clue: its a biological function ment to continue the species, not a gift from a deity that doesnt really exist except in the minds of the easily controlled
hi
my mom was a pregnant teen. how hypocritical could i be to judge others? clearly, i’m glad she chose not to have an abortion…
Very interesting and I have to agree…the media is making this into a bigger mess than it needs to be.
Wait….how is Juno with the wrong guy?
Seems like they were in love to me. I think the wrong guy would’ve begged her to get an abortion and left her or something. He wanted to stay with her after the whole thing happened. But, yeah, maybe it was the wrong time. Not the wrong guy.
Mhm nice post.
“I just shake my head at the whole Spears family…”
uhmm maybe whoever wrote that should take that back or be more specific as to which spears’ theyre talking about. me being apart of a/the Spears family takes offense to that, because theres only 3 spears’ you probably know OF britney, jamie, and the mom, so you cant generalize a last name as a whole on those 3 people.
kthx crystal.
Very true.
how’d you see this a few weeks ago?? its not even out here (Florida). I can’t wait to see the movie, Ellen Page is awesome. I own her other movie Hard Candy. You should definitely take a look into it if you do not already own it. Amazing.
Juno was a really good movie… It wasn’t nearly what I thought it was going to be like.
Who said the movie was glorifying teen pregnancy? I don’t think it was portrayed that way at all. What it portrayed was the ordeal of a girl who was very mature for her age – something teen moms usually aren’t.
I can’t wait to see Juno. Although there is something way more appealing about a girl who we have no assumptions about….but when your older sister is Britney Spears…you’re kinda screwed.
so you’ve read the scarlet letter, too.
juno sounds like a good movie. but they aren’t playing it in my state! is that weird or what? something about it “supporting teen pregnancy” or whateverr. and i mean just look at all the jamie lynn stuff all over the place?? i can’t get away from it!
and i’m glad i know who hester is. lol! thank you, sophomore english..
I loved Juno. Jamie-lynn has made a bad choice (in my opinion) by getting preggers so early. But! She can show responsibility and try to be an inspiration to young teens who are facing tough situations that deal with sex and/or abortion.
Speaking as a mother to be at seventeen years old
I feel for JLS
And I do not consider myself to be immoral… I am in love with my boyfriend
and more in love with my baby to be.
hey im abby. i heard about jamie and she 16!! way to follow her sis. and her mom is writing a parenting book. weird. as for juno mom wont let me see it because she thinks its stupid even though she hasnt seen it oh well. my username is balletabby. check it out!
abby
i didn’t even read the post because it would of been a waste of time… honestly who cares that some chick got knocked up… yea she is 16 years old… but i almost had a kid with an ex of mine also… at the age of 16… and if i had WOULD IT HAVE MADE NATIONAL NEWS????? no it wouldn’t of… no one would of cared scept for my family… but we put these stupid celebrities on this high pedastool where they shouldnt be and care about them instead of lets see…. people being murdered…. or maybe call it pure GENOCIDE… in Darfur… but noooo i havent seen an article about that yet…. i admit i dont write articles about specific topics in the world… and maybe not the most intelligent or understandable stuff either… but i certainly dont write about a crappy actress/ slut/ stupid girl who doesnt know how to keep her legs closed….
but then again thats just an opinion…
-gabe
Juno was excellent. One of the best movies I have seen in a long time. As far as Jamie Linn, whatever it happens, but I don’t think she should be a spokes person for nicolodian any more. lets just hope she’s a better mom than her sister.
love the scarlet letter reference. hah, amen.
(p.s. i lovvved juno)
i’m not much of a perez hilton junkie but i looovvvee the analogy of hester and jamie lynn.
i think the only thing that really differentiates jamie lynn from the 20 sixteen-year-old girls pregnant at my school is that she is a role model for all of her nickolodeon devotees.
turn your heads to hannah montana kids, those spears’ are afu.
i just think its a little silly that the pro life movement is attempting to use her as an example.. when her family is rich enough to support her very easily and in no way represents the majority of pregnant teens out there.
I find it strange that most people I know were born to a teenage mother (including myself) and lead some what normal, stable lives, yet the media portrays any teenage girl to get pregnant a skanky hoe whose been putting vodka in her cheerios since age seven and doesn’t know what a condom is (The child in question usually grows up in a trailer park abused without a proper father), when in fact, these things do happen sometimes. People distort them though, like, how dare she have sex at such a young age! Oh please. It’s normal. It has been all through history.
And then, there’s this wonderful film, that manages to be touching and heart warming without being obnoxiously cheesy, that gets all this good press and praise.
Yet, here’s Jamie Lynn, and just because she has a used hoe bag as an older sister, they put it way out of whack, like she’s a skank, and she’s following her sister’s footsteps, though I think she’s handling this quite well and this whole story is reasonable. People fail to realize 1) She’s at a normal age 2) She’s been with this guy for six years or so 3) She actually intends on raising it.
Alright, so I’ll get of my soap box and just say excellent post.
I thought the whole thing was a joke at first. But I guess it’s true. I wish her all the luck and hopefully she’ll be a better mother than her sister.
I have friends who are teen moms, or young moms, and people would talk about them all the time. I don’t see why really. It’s nothing new in the world of humanity and having your first child at 33 is relatively new when you think about it. So technically….teen moms/young moms are normal. It wasn’t too long ago in America girls were married off and had a few children before 30. It’s just our society because in others it’s perfectly fine.
I just wish her all the luck in the world.
She comes from money, she is money, there is nothing to worry about. Teenage pregnancy is only a problem because it prevents them from achieving. No such thing here.
Additionally, Britney got pregnant when she was only a few years older, and now she is unmarried and pregnant again…why not trash her just as much?
Oh, because she’s in her twenties. Please, that is still really young, and she’s proved she’s not mature enough to be a mother.
what really upset me about jamie-Lynn getting pregnant wasn’t just the fact that she’s much too young to handle the responsibility of having a child not just grow within her own body but her having to take care of it, rather all the people, young girls, fellow castmates, and family she severly disappointed. Her castmates in particular no longer have a show because of her. She’s a selfish brat, don’t make her a victim. The only thing she is a victim of is her own consequence.
i went to a midnight showing of Juno this early “morning”, and i have to say: i liked it.
juno is a silly flic for people to see. im interested in seeing it, but in real life. its not quite like that. parents usally dont agree with it. and thats the whole thing about it. i mean if you think mama spears is happy about her daughters.. then your wacko. mkay. so maybe give the kids a chance to rethink before the act.
i really think that sex education is very important and should be taught as early as possible… nowadays in many parts of the world, termination of pregnancy becomes such a common thing that some people take it as a method of contraception but it is actually a cruel thing to do…
i hope i can find that “the scartlet letter” book. i’m looking for a good read lately cuz it’s the holiday vacation so thanks for the inspiration. if ever i’d find that book, im sure i’d imagine the hester character as someone who looks like j-lynn. haha! this is a very nice post, and your site isn’t too bad either.
have a happy new ’08!
xx
hm, very nice reference to scarlet letter. actually, i was just suprised that i recognized it.
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In a way, you’re right. We need to change it so that teen pregnancy is not a taboo. BUT, we shouldn’t be so accepting as to make it seem like it’s an ok thing to do. It’s not. Teenagers are not responsible. If my 16 year old brother impregnated a girl, I would shit a brick because his priorities right now are girls, then car, then school. Not a very smart guy is he? At least not right now.
We need to educate teens. Starting from middle school. Get rid of abstinence-only education and teach kids about contraceptives. Not just about condoms, but about contraceptives girls can use like the pill, a diaphragm, or a female condom. Girls need to empower themselves and protect themselves as well (though using a condom along with the pill, for example is best).
We really don’t need to make teen pregnancy an un-taboo subject, we need to make teen sex an un-taboo subject.
I’m still trying to figure out why people care about celebrities so much. I couldn’t care less what color they wore to the latest awards show, nor how many children they have in or out of wedlock. Don’t care. Never will. They’re just mostly mindless people who have no real job. They’ve spent their lives trying to be other people. They don’t add one iota to society, in my opinion. They talk about how the rest of us should be saving the planet, saving the lost, feeding the children, clothing the naked, educating the ignorant, while they spend their time driving cars and living in houses that could feed the children, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant, and, quite possibly, save the planet, only it doesn’t need saving.
since everything is supposed to happen for a reason, maybe this pregnancy is going to contribute to bettering her life. make her more responsible. i’m proud of her for choosing to raise her child away from the life in the fast lane tho.
as for juno, i’m sorta disappointed that no theatre within 200 miles of my town will be showing it.
o well i s’pose.
i don’t think that teen pregnancy is “right’ per say,
but we all make mistakes.
and the way we are all up in arms about JLS, is terrible.
i can only imagine what she’s feeling, without the added stress from the media.
this was a good post,
very well written.
G-d isn’t dumb; things that are moral are (eventually) beneficial to the individual &/or to humanity. Immoral stuff isn’t benefical BUT can become beneficial with a change of heart. By that change of heart I **don’t** mean “accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior;” I mean the person recognizing “ah, choice X wasn’t the best choice.” G-d doesn’t wait for folks to believe in Him before He helps them but He does wait until they see the error of their ways. Does that mean I’m okay with people wagging their finger at Susie PregnanTeen? If they are doing it from a “oh, look how much better I am from her” standpoint, no. But if it’s from the “wow, I don’t think that was the best choice” standpoint, then….well…..those folks probably wouldn’t be wagging their finger anyway.
As for the media (particularly pop media), they write about scandals to sell their wares (not to glamorize or even to inform) and will make the commonplace scandalous if it makes them $$$.
Good post.
Rock on!
My niece’s mother is only 18 and she and my brother don’t even get along. Teen pregnancy is very serious, and though I don’t believe in sex before marriage, you have to do what you can for the child. That’s the main thing, to think about the child instead of how much you hate each other.
Nice post! Right on! (>.O)o
P.S. I forgot to write earlier that my Mom was a teenager when she had my Sister and she was 27 when she thought about aborting me. I write all that to illustrate the moral vs. immoral thing.
Immoral (read: unbeneficial)–>having my Sister so young…lead to my Mom’s change of heart (read: recognizing her poor choice of having sex too early)
…lead to moral (read: benefical)–>Mom considering *very carefully* the implications of having another child
……lead to moral (beneficial)–>having me
Does that make sense?
I disagree that Jamie Lynn’s parents went to the media simply to squash rumors before they started. They sold that story for something like a million dollars (or so I’ve heard), so as much as the media is making a circus out of it, Lynne Spears (her mother) seems to be a little at fault as well. It depends how you look at it…was she really setting the record straight, or was she selling out her daughter?
And as far as sex before marriage being MORALLY wrong…that’s assuming everyone believes in the same things that you do. Values are very subjective, so to pass judgement on others based on values is a little hypocritical.
And the boyfriend…I’m wondering if he’ll only run into trouble if Jamie Lynn’s parents press charges?
i thought she got knocked up by her producer ehhh
juno was amazing
i saw it with my BF
++ the whole jamie lynn thing? please. people there’s starvation and worse shit going on in third world countries. hell, there’s even a freaking war. teen pregnancy is not the end of the world (though it’s an issue). young + single moms have bad stigma already. jeez.
kudos, this was an awesome post. =]
I’m not really getting the Hester thing. Hester Prynne was an adulteress, she had a child after she cheated on her husband with another man. As far as I know, JLS got pregnant by her boyfriend, she doesn’t deserve the scarlet A.
Otherwise I really like your post. =)
I don’t feel it is my place to judge morally, though I do at times question intelligence in these matters.
However, based on what I do know of JLS, she is far more intelligent than her sister and, although a bad decision MAY have been made (assuming it was the result of unprotected sex or even pregnancy by choice), there is very little chance of her being a WORSE, or even equal, mother to her sister. I mean, all parents make mistakes, but c’mon Britney…
JLS is widely viewed as a role model for “tweens.” And, she is definitely in a catch 22: she could abort the baby to attempt to save her show, but risk that coming out to the public; or, she could keep the baby (as she is) and just be as honest about it all as possible. Although she is definitely going to be judged, I think she made the right decision in this matter, both for herself and for her career. As much as it pains me to say this as a pro-choice woman, she would definitely be shooting herself in the foot if she had an abortion, as it would undoubtedly come out and the masses would call her evil and a baby killer, and both her personal and professional lives would be jeopardized.
It’s sad that so many people (such as the poster who says that ANY sex before marriage is immoral–sometimes, people don’t have a choice, i.e. rape, and sometimes people aren’t allowed to get married, i.e. homosexuals) live in black and white worlds.
I can’t wait to see Juno. I’m just too broke right now!
I think the biggest issue with JLS being preggo, and why everyone is so appauled (sp?) is the fact that she’s “a role model for young kids AND on nickelodeon” *gasp*shock*faint* I just don’t get it. Teens get pregnant, sex is a part of almost every teen and quite a few end up pregnant. So what if she’s a “role model” kids might say when they’re that age “I wanna be like her when I grow up” But the thing is in about 3 more years they’ll stop watching her on her Zoey 101 and want to be something that defines them. I don’t see why all these parents are worried about the effect it will have on their kids. It won’t make them start having sex at age 8. And if seeing Jaime Lynn pregnant makes them want to have sex at 8. Then maybe they should stop focusing on JLS and focus on their own parenting. lol. Idk. She’s keeping it. Nothing anyone can do about it now. Just pray for the best and hope that it doesn’t come out deformed.
God’s gift of sex? What?!
Hola will you people be my friend?n thanks if u will lol jk plz
who cares. it’s her and her family’s business. there’s a war in iraq and a presidential election next year. know what really matters.
This was a wonderful post.
I’ve already seen Juno twice and can’t wait for someone to take me to see it a third time…. haha.
It has the best soundtrack I’ve heard in a long time–”Anyone Else But You” by the Moldy Peaches is already a frequentplay on my iPod. Just.. adorable, I guess, would be the best word.
But it bothers me how we’ve exploited JLS’s pregnancy. Can we find no better entertainment than the most unfortunate crisis that could enter the life of a teenager? While it’s no excuse for her actions, let’s consider that it’s probably less likely that this would have happened without the influence of a misbehaving sister, a money-hungry mother, and the constant presence of the media. It’s pretty messed up, and I don’t really see why we find it funny.
I wanna watch Juno :]
wow that was nicely put. it was interesting reading that, i just watched juno a couple hours ago and i loved it.
i like how you called her a relatable herorine.
I don’t know. It seems as if she is heading down the path of her dear older sister. But whatever, I’m not one to judge.
Would you say that “Juno” is worth paying $8 to see in the theater? Cause I’m trying to figure out whether out not to go and see that movie or National Treasure 2.
Kudos on the well-placed Scarlet Letter references!!! haha. Awesome post.
hi Natalia
I really enjoyed reading this post. I heard it was a good film and am now even more interested in seeing it.
thanks
There are very few teens who actually want to be pregnant, so classifying it as “morally wrong” is not accurate in my thinking. You can call teen sex morally wrong, but the pregnancy is an accident, such as a broken condom, or just not having one available. I do hope people will give the kid a break, it’s a hard burden to bear even if you aren’t under public scrutiny.
I love Michael Cera. lolz.
I don’t see why it’s newsworthy – teen pregnancy is nothing new. I’ve heard good things about Juno – haven’t had a chance to see it.
I lived in a neighborhood where teen pregnancy was normal. Its a shame that JLS got pregnant, especially now. Her family has been in the news since Britney and Kevin got together. Everybody will be judging her and comparing her to her sister.
Everything that goes wrong will be in the news and nobody will read about how good of a mom she might be, they only want the bad things.
props. just total props.
my first reaction to jamie lynn being pregnant was oh how could she, my little sister loves her. she’s terrible, etc. etc.
but you know this really opened my eyes like, you’re completely right
she’s doing a great thing
and everyone makes mistakes.
and I haven’t seen Juno yet
but I am extremely excited to see it
It was a heavy rock too…
Not everyone knows how the media is “covering it.” It’d be good to give a summary.
Did people seriously not know who Hester was? Wow. Society’s going down the tubes, and I’d say Jamie Lynn’s personal life is definitely the least of our problems!
Someone commented about it possibly being statutory rape with Jamie and her boyfriend, I was wondering the same thing, but have not heard anything.
Anyway, great post, it really makes me think. My world would crumble if I ended up pregnant now and my family would throw the fit of the century. However if parents are too relaxed on the situation teens might not be as afraid of becoming pregnant. Even if it were to become socially acceptable, most teenagers are not able or equipt to raise a child and they should also be able to live their lives and go through school and ect before being a parent. I have absolutly no idea on how to shove it into the heads of teens that teen pregnanacy is not what you want for yourself, however, you dont shun people for it. As well, it has always confused me, with condoms being as effective as they are as well as affordable and accessable why are so many teens still getting pregnant. Either we are really that dumb or condoms aren’t as great as I was led to believe. I am sure people are just being dumb, I just can never understand why. Anyway, great topic!
I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said in your post. Excellent, excellent points.
Teen pregnancy is definitely an issue in the area that I live in. In fact, the high school that I attend holds the highest rate for teen pregnancies in the district (we also hold the highest drop-out rate as well >__>;; ) But the schools surrounding us also have very high pregnancy rates too.
I think maybe schools are maybe beating a dead horse with their whole ‘don’t drink and drive’ and the ‘don’t do drugs’ campaign. And yes, these are important issues but we’ve had them drilled into our heads since grade school. If we haven’t learned them now then we’re all screwed. When maybe they should be promoting newer ideas (or maybe it’s just my school that’s not doing this >.>) like awareness of teen pregnancy. It’s a very real thing and when girls my age find out that they’re pregnant they act like they’re surprised and that really pisses me off. It’s like “Well, you idiot, you’re the one that had sex, don’t be surprised about it.” I don’t know I just get mad when people are surprised about their ignorance.
This whole ordeal with Jamie Lynn is a little ridiculous as well- or at least that what I think. I think it’s promoting that getting pregnant when you’re a teenager is okay as long as you take the baby to a low-key town so it can be raised. I don’t think these people understand the responsibility that raising a child takes (Not that I know either, just saying). The whole ‘long-time boyfriend of two years’ thing is what got me. Some married couples wait years until they have children. I just feel like they’re really sugar-coating this whole thing to make it sound like it’s okay, when in all actuality, it isn’t always okay. Especially when you’re in the public eye like that.
Ack, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to preach or anything and this is already WAY longer than i thought it would be. Anyway, a very good post and I can’t wait to see Juno :]
wow so much comment from people
i want to be like you
i think itz crazy how people judge people and their situations at first glance…most peepz are such hypocrits…good luq j-lynn
I agree with savmuffins’ opinions (in the comment a while before mine).
On another (less opinionative, somewhat less serious) note, I didn’t know that “Juno” was up for several Golden Globe awards…are you guys aware that the whole story is an exact copy of a South Korean movie called “Jenny & Juno”? I’m sure Hollywood bought the script, but I wish the South Koreans would get some credit… but this is just me rambling.
Anyways, interesting topic.
WTF THIS IS THE STUPIDEST SIGHT EVER
i dont really dig into the media stories and analyze them, but my mom (the gossip queen) made the point that it may have been a planned pregnancy to take the attention off of trainwreck brit. possibility? ill buy it
It’s situations like these that the media uses to generate hype and increase profits and to keep the masses diverted from society’s important issues.
I had to give you props for this entry. You spell it out so perfectly and deserve to have been featured. Kudos, my dear
Interesting post. Very thought provoking without being judgmental.
Huge Props from me too! Thank you for a great post! I was pregnant at 16, married a few months after I found out. We are a rare example of how things can work out. We’ve been married for almost 18 years now. When I first found out about JLS, I just felt sad for her. Having been in that place I know how hard it is to say … “um this is what I did” I hope that her sister has provided enough examples of how NOT to do things that JLS will be a better mom. I just hope that she can survive the world passing judgement on her. Teen pregnancy does happen, it’s happened all through history. Is it a big deal? Well I don’t think it’s a good thing, but there is a reason for everything. I just hope that she focuses on the needs of her body and her baby. It is her life to live, her path to go along. I know I felt bad for her because I still remember the feelings I had as a junior in high school – the first week back after summer break, how very pregnant I was – the teachers all trying not to say anything. I am surprised they didn’t tell me to stay home. I did not quit school, being a teen mom doesn’t mean you have to. I went to college, grants and loans are there to help in this situation. Anyone can change their lives, if in a difficult situation, the desire for change has to begin inside.
BTW, I am very excited about seeing Juno! Can’t wait!! Happy New Year!
juno is my most favorite movie, i swear on my lifezzzz. i’ve seen it 6 times already
also, j.l. is going to end up like her sister, it’s her problem. she’s the one that fucked up her life and what she had. my sister watches her show and i dont know if you’ve noticed but the producers of the show are making an episode where she leaves her school forever, yadda yadda. obviously they’re playing that in with her pregnancy and all because yes, shes young and thats not a good role-model for kids and nickolodean doesnt want anything to do with her.
its her problem.
and, i think she was with the right guy at the right time.
i got all paranoid about pregnancy after i watched juno and heard all the jamie lynn stories. one night i was like.. oh my god. my stomach looks like its getting big.. doesnt it? lying there in my bed, freaking out. because i dont even know how id be possible for me to even BE pregnant.
…but im just getting fat apparently. hahh.
Hello, I’d just like to let you know that some chick on the-n’s message boards is basically stealing your well-written words. Verbatim.
http://www.the-n.com/mb/viewtopic.php?t=2913533
Hebrews 13:4 says, “marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
it may not be one of the ten commandments, but God has said it. therefore, i am free from having to make any judgment, because God has done it for me. keep the marriage bed pure – clear enough?
just for the record
great post.
well i personally think she was a role model. and everyone was relying on her to not be like her sister. my cousins talked about it on xmas, and i agreeed with them. she did make the wrong choice for us but maybe for her its right?. lots of people get away with early pregnancies they dont get reported and unluckily for her it gets talked about every day. i dont support her decision for becoming pregnant but for keeping the baby i do. she messed up and she knows it but unlike other moms no abortion will happen.
i haven’t had premarital sex. but i am in her age group and my friends are no angels. some aren’t even virgins but thats there choice. i think she made a stupid decision because personally i liked her alot and now ughh not so much. there are a lot of ways to prevent pregnancies and she should’ve taken responsibilty.
she was a rolemodel and people looked up to her especially little kids from ages 9-14. rolemodels shouldn’t make stupid decisions but thats also what parents are for to use her as an example and how not all rolemodels are perfect. and its the parents job to tell their kids whats wrong and what isn’t.
well, with britney spears as her sister, she can’t have exactly the best influence. so it’s not exactly that much of a shocker. also, her sister steals all the attention. that could have been another reason she seeks attention from her beau instead. but, (hello), hasn’t she heard of birth control? i guess that that “talk” doesn’t happen in the spears family.
xoxo
nice post! juno was awesome.
i appreciate that you’re supportive of jamie lynn.
frankly, i think she’ll be a way better mom than britney.
You’re so ugly the zoo put your picture in the monkey cage to keep the monkeys from jerking off.
People are going to treat Jamie Lynn with so much sympathy and such. Everyone’s going to let her get away with it. They’ll probably blame her sister as some “bad influence”.
I heard her boyfriend slept over and such. Something like that.
for my two cents worth. teen pregnancy can not be labeled as right nor wrong. both my neice and my nephew are products of unwed teenage hormones and i couldnt love them any more than i do. however, both my brother (my neices dad) and my sister (my nephews mom) love their children dearly, wish that they had waited to start a family until they were wed.
this being said, jamie is getting it too rough. this is a tough enough issue for any teenager, much less one in the spotlight. and i think she has handled it as well as can be expected.
I’m astounded by the number of judgmental and ignorant comments on this post. I think that this was such a great post.
Until you’ve walked in her shoes, you have no right to judge. I’m not even commenting on whether or not teenage pregnancy is right or wrong; obviously most teenagers are not equipped to handle a pregnancy. But again, if you have sex, what do you THINK is going to happen? BC is not always 100% effective, no matter what you use. We can sit here and judge JLS and say, oh she’s a role model… all these people look up to her. Why should she necessarily be placed in that position? She plays a character on a TV show… she’s not some spokesperson for the “True Love Waits” committee! So that makes her a “role model”, because she’s in the public eye? Personally, I think to put someone on a pedestal like that is wrong. Because she’s someone we *think* we know, we should be surprised that *gasp* she had sex, and wow… guess what? She got pregnant! Gee, I wonder how *that* happened! She never said, “I’m going to be a virgin until I get married,” as far as I know. Apparently, she and her boyfriend have been living together for awhile now. Do you really think they were being chaste? If people didn’t have a problem with that then, why in the world would they have a problem with it now that she’s pregnant?
Personally, I really feel for the girl, not because I’ve been through it (at least not as a teenager!), but because I know that she’s got a lot of choices to make in the future. Things can work out — whether they will work out how she wants them to or not is another question. Good luck to her — that’s all I have to say!
Awesome post (Y). Personally, I think sex before marriage is a big no-no.
The fact that this is just one case out of millions just shows you how ineffectual our American society is. Until something happens to a celeb we are completely willing to ignore it as a population. Disgusting, that’s all I can think to call it. I do wish her well though, and her baby – which will lead the life from Hell.
yikes it’s scary to see how close minded and backwards some people can be about these types of situations (as can be seen in some of the comments your post has gotten). i really do feel sorry for pregnant teens not just because of the whole “oh now the girl has to take all the responsibility” thing but that IT’S NOT LIKE ANYBODY PLANNED IT! It’s just an accident! We all make mistakes!! lol.
I really wanted to watch that movie. It seemed interesting to me.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to go. D:
I liked how the girl said in the previews “He’s the cheese to my macaroni..”
That was cute.>O<
Hehe..
Hey, you prolly heard it like a million times, but this was an amazing post. Are you wanting to be a writer when you grow up? I kind of want to, but like I am too lazy to find time and dedication to write something so real. Well, if you haven’t thought about it…journalist much? Keep it up.
`passby
i did not know jamie lynn spears was pregnant, since i don’t follow the lives of any of the people in the spears family or any of the many britney spears paris hilton clones in hollywood because they annoy the living crap out of me on general principle.
and i have to say i fall into the opposite camp… lately it seems like there are a lot of movies and television shows where people are having babies all of a sudden and i wonder why? i don’t think that anyone should be outcast for having a child, but i don’t think of it as the natural progression of all women’s lives either. there is an overpopulation problem in this world of ours, and i happen to think we should make it more societally acceptable for people to choose to NOT do the traditional thing of growing up, getting married, and having children. the reality is that having a baby at sixteen CAN be done, i have a cousin who did it. it’s not an impossible thing, but the truth is that most sixteen year olds should not have a baby… the problems of supporting a child monetarily and the time required by children plus the time required to get an education so you can get a decent job PLUS take care of a baby full time is a lot to ask of most sixteen year olds who aren’t used to putting someone else’s needs before their own. i’m not saying there aren’t sixteen year olds who could do it, i’m just saying that the sad truth is that many sixteen year olds end up foisting off a lot of the responsibility on their families because they just can’t handle it all. the parents of a sixteen year old pregnancy are going to be the ones paying for that baby.
having a baby is a difficult thing for ANYONE that should not be entered into lightly, for ANYONE of ANY age. just because you’re capable of conceiving does not mean you’re ready to have a child. it troubles me that the people who decide what goes into our popular culture are encouraging all these people to have children suddenly, because a lot of people will fall for it. having a baby you aren’t ready for can not only ruin YOUR life, but your child’s as well. i know several people who were the products of unwanted pregnancies who had terrible childhoods. i wish miss spears and her child the best of luck, and i’m sure with her ridiculous craploads of money her child will be well cared for, but in general i’d have to say for your average sixteen year old, and for myself even though i’m 22, having a baby is a bad idea.
Very nice.
im rarely on xanga these days, but i feel compelled to comment
i agree with your first huge chunk of writing that the media is out of control and society still has its panties too bunched up in a wad to be accepting of, and make the most of, what is. granted, teenage pregnancies seem like theyd be a buttload of trouble for the mama (and sometimes papa) teen, seeing as to how they more than likely dont even really have themselves or their lives figured out yet (as pointed out in juno).. even so, whos to say the parent(s) cant do a good job raising a kid? as long as the babys wellbeing isnt jeopardized by common teen acts of stupidity – or the media, in the aforementioned case – i think its perfectly acceptable.
and i will argue that juno was with the right guy
taking your perspective into account, yeah, it is sorta awkward getting pregnant with your best friend who isnt your boyfriend at the time. on the other hand, he was a good guy who, in the end, is there for her as opposed to knocking her up and disappearing – a widespread tactic it seems – and that alone qualifies him as right. of course, this was all after the fact, so i suppose we can say she coincidentally got pregnant with the right guy who wasnt right at the time.
now im confusing myself.
who cares what she wants to do with her life and why does every one care?if you were her you wouldnt want all these people to be this freaked out. and britney NUTCASE but we love her!
The poor Spears family just can’t get a break. Now they’re even writing tabloids about her mom and how she uses her daughters as a “Money Bank” pfft.
i think its more or less not our job to judge Jamie Lynn,as we do not have a full story. we were not there when she did the deed,so how do we know she didn’t take birth control and/or he didn’t use a condom?
we should not be shocked or make such vast comments on her just because shes Britneys younger sister. why should we really care? i mean i’m sure there are hundreds of girls her age who are pregnant at the very same time,yet we do not hear about how bad their parents are at teaching their child?!
Thank you for this post.
Refreshing & fucking nice to see that you feel sorry for him
& you’re not still laughing about her.
I feel horrible for how the media even gets sooo involved with the life
of celebrities. They make their already unprivate lives worse.
*him = her.
My Bad.
Yes,Juno got pregnant too,but she isn’t in the eye of the world like Jamie Lynn Spears,only her peers at school.
Unlike Juno,Jamie Spears is an example of a young screw-up in hollywood.And the fact that she is a Spears’ and she too has messed up which makes matters even worse.
I love how people are sticking up for Jamie and saying how much of a better mom she’ll be than Brittney and how they support her.
Does no one think what Jamie Spears has gotten into,pregnant at 16,is trampy?I mean come on.
in comment to muzical_writer735, even if you think premarital sex is wrong, that’s not going to stop it from happening. saying she was ‘wrong’ isnt helping. i say, don’t pass judgement on other people’s decisions.
anyways, i think jaime lynn will need alll the help in the world. and her rasing the kid away from hollywood is good…she dosent need that shit. she’s at an age were she’s becoming more mature yet not yet an adult. shes making adult decsions and living an adult life. i think the issue isnt that she had sex, but that people in general dont realize shes growing up and thats happening even though shes a celebrity.
people that write about shit like this make me sick
this is an aspect that i haven’t really considered. good post.
It’s morally wrong depending on religion. The whole sex before marriage was started by the christians. Just because a group of people have a certain opinion doesn’t mean it has to justify your own. (comment goes to one above mine.)
First of all since when was having a baby such a big deal who cares if shes 16 really shes financially stable which is probably one of the biggest hurdles she has to deal with when being a young mother she has a great career ahead of her there are mothers who have there first kid at 30 and are still not ready people need to get over the whole age thing seriously is there a under 18 no kids rule or something these arent cigarretes or alcohol were buying jeez!!!
I know how it can all be cured: it starts with an A and ends with BSTINENCE.
If a girl doesn’t want people checking out her hump, she shouldn’t have sex. It’s as simple as that. Really, it is as simple as that.
great post! You pinned it!
I’m a wedlock baby and let me tell you – it SUCKS. I don’t care what Jamie does, but I feel horrible for her child. If she wants to be a little whore then that’s her problem, but she should not bring another human being into the world. Parents have no right to force children to have those kinds of problems. It’s abuse and totally unecessary. I’d choose abortion rather than make a child live a life being chased by paparazzi questioning what she thinks of her situation. Everyone makes a fuss out of the mother and her “bad” choices but I really think more people should consider the child’s future and be more empathetic with him or her.
“juno” sounds like a dream to tons of pregnant teenage girls. who wouldn’t want a mom that offers prenatal vitamins instead of a sound scolding? at first, when i read this post, it sounded like something a “good/cool” mom would do. but then you get down to thinking, and it doesn’t make much sense to NOT scold your kid, unless your kid is already scolding herself and insisting that she has learned her lesson.
when a teen girl gets pregnant, the two things that should be discussed are: 1) what to do with the baby, seeing as how the fate of the girl and the baby rests in what is decided upon and 2) did she learn her lesson this time?
but of course the smart thing would be to take drastic preventions against getting knocked up in the first place.
The way the media is portraying her pregnancy is slightly offending to someone like me who had and lost (RIP Miranda Emery Melton, August 17th, 2007 ~ November 21st, 2007) her first daughter at sixteen.
And dear muzical_writer735, not everyone can prevent premarital sex, my daughter was the result of being raped by my boyfriend and she was the best accident that ever happened to me. God brought me back to him through her, and with her death, it brought me closer to him than ever. God uses our mistakes like that sometimes.
The “A” is for adultery, isn’t it? Jamie Lynn would probably get a “P” for “pregnant.” As for Paulie in Juno being the “wrong guy”, I’m going to have to disagree with you. Though apparently it isn’t acceptable by societal norms, I would say it’s normal to have intercourse with people you aren’t dating but those are called “one night stands.” (I sound like such a douche quoting all these terms, I admit it!)
Anyways, Paulie was the guy for Juno because she had feelings for him all along and vice versa. Just because they weren’t together at the time they had sex doesn’t mean he is the wrong guy. It was simply bad timing or just an honest accident due to some poor (or lack thereof birth control).
The sex before marriage debate is old and I’m not going to waste my breath debating it. It really depends on your moral codes — and what gives anyone the right to judge someone’s else’s personal choices especially if one doesn’t know him/her? I think it’s a little ignorant to to lump “any sex” into one category (the category being “morally wrong”).
If two people honestly and truly love each other what should stop them? Perhaps that is just me being naive. Also, many people don’t believe in marriage these days.
I’m sorry that was so long!
touchy subject but a great post none the less… =)
Bwah, I agree with you.
I am not glorifying pregnancy out of wedlock or whatever.
But, I am not bashing it over the head with a tire iron.
Things happen…
Hey, personally, I think you made plenty of great points. Mostly, I think it’s great that you pointed out about the immediate response, especially by the parents. It is a big deal. I definitely don’t think that anyone should choose to have sex if they are not ready to raise a child, however, I believe that if the choice has already been made and the child is coming, there are much better responses than those that our society seems to throw at us. Between the number of wanting couples who are unable to have kids and would love to adopt to those few but beautiful cases of the caring and comforting parents such as those in Juno, abortion or an extremely poverty-stricken and alone motherhood are not the only options. Thank you for posting this.
God bless,luke
I am just happy that she isn’t having an abortion, because that would be and always is the saddest outcome!
hurray. =]
Reasonable point, but bad allusions.
The Scarlet Letter represents adultery (and later in the story stands for “able”), which is cheating on your spouse. Jamie Lynn Spears is simply a teenager who got pregnant by her boyfriend, and she relates in no way to Hester Prynne. Juno is a completely different story as well.
This blog would have been great without these skewed references to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s marvelous work.
i think the media’s being too hard on Jamie…one of the girls at my college class has a one year old son with her boyfriend, who’s twenty three. she’s fifteen.
teen pregnancy is generally accidential, and if it’s fine for adults to have children out of wedlock and not get pointed at, then why is it not okay for us?
i’ve seen Juno ^^
Good job writing that, it was an interesting read. Thumb up!!!!
Good points all around, but there is one new bit of info that makes J-lynn’s situation different… Her family is now saying that Casey isn’t the father, its actually some older guy that works on Zoey 101. Creeeeeepy if you ask me. And totally irresponsible. They’re just having casey cover for her so that the other guy doesnt get prosecuted for statutory rape. Very odd. And very not like Juno (Which I cant wait to see btw)
But yea, if that hadn’t been for this new development, I would agree that people need to give her some slack. Accidents happen, it’s just that some accidents are bigger than others. *shrug*
One thing people fail to realize, that not such a long time ago, it was the norm to get married and have a child by the age of 16. And if you didn’t, then you were the so called “outcast”.
I have a comment to make about muzical_writer735′s comment that “it’s amazing hwo much the world has perverted and unpurified….” The “gift of sex” was given to us (and all other living creatures) for the purpose of reproduction. To populate the world. Animals don’t get married before they have sex. Most animals aren’t even loyal to their partners after they do reproduce. There are a few, don’t get me wrong, but humans are animals too, and believe it or not, it is in our nature to reproduce and the marriage thing is just a formality that we as “higher thinkers” feel is a necessity to reproduce.
Nice post.
Wow, doesn’t any one have any self control these days? What is the rush to have sex? Your only so young, teenagers should be more focused on their education and the awesomeness of their teen years, getting pregnant pushes you quickly into adulthood with so many responsibilities. I am not saying it is wrong just by a religious point of view but also wrong because they are not financially and emotionally stable. She is really irresponsible and I hope she doesn’t choose to abort, I hope she just puts it up for adoption because that is better than their mom raising it…
well put.
Commenting “TheVolumeofSilence”
I have a comment to make about muzical_writer735′s comment that “it’s amazing hwo much the world has perverted and unpurified….” The “gift of sex” was given to us (and all other living creatures) for the purpose of reproduction. To populate the world. Animals don’t get married before they have sex. Most animals aren’t even loyal to their partners after they do reproduce. There are a few, don’t get me wrong, but humans are animals too, and believe it or not, it is in our nature to reproduce and the marriage thing is just a formality that we as “higher thinkers” feel is a necessity to reproduce.
It is true God gave us the gift of reproduction but we are far smarter than animals. Animals only reproduce by instinct, we on the other hand, do not. Sex is more important because there is more thought and feelings put into it, while animals are like reproduce, reproduce reproduce, eat, pee and reproduce!! Animals don’t really care much about commitment. I would have to agree with muzical_writer735′s comment that the world is perverted because it simply is.
Sweet post, I personally believe the reasons J-Lynn has been covered by every media vehicle are 1) She is the sister of the most publicized meltdown on the planet Brit. and 2) Her character on her show is someone who would never let herself get into a situation like that (or so I’ve heard).
p.s. boo for linking wiki but seriously, is nathaniel hawthorne not on the curriculum of that many school districts for junior year english?!?!? no child left behind my……….. foot.
what the “A” stands for is so obvious but i always wanted to think it stood for something else (and had a short list of words beginning with the letter ‘a’) to be “deep” (in a sophomoric way)
It’s a story of mine. I wear the links of london in my whole life. No one knows why I love so much the ring. I also don’t know why. We even don’t know what his name is and how old he is and where he come and went. It really likes a ridiculous story. But I have a proof that is the links of london jewellery ring. It’s neither a dream nor a girl’s imagination.
I don’t know if you can see this article, if you can remember the period happiness, I hope you can have a happy life.