Bristol Palin was on the cover of People a few weeks ago, in her graduation robe and holding her son Tripp (who continues the "WTF is that name??" tradition of the Palin clan).
The article portrayed Bristol as relatively isolated though living among her family, and she was quoted as saying that if teenagers understood the consequences of sex, they'd never, ever have it.
She's probably right -- probably more right than the detractors who flamed People for putting an unwed teen mother on the cover and smiling. I mean, obviously teens aren't legally (or, I would say, emotionally) allowed to consent to behavior that can result in having to raise children or deal with a lifelong (or even temporary-and-curable) STD, for a reason. Bristol's point, that teens wouldn't choose to have sex if they understood the consequences, is right in line with the view that sex is something only adults (and only some adults at that) can be expected to make reasonable decisions on.
It's totally conventional, in other words.
And the view that despite committing what she may now consider a mistake, her baby isn't one, and that he is lovable and good, is also conventional.
Why do people think that the way to prevent teen pregnancy is to vilify the babies? Wouldn't we all be better off saying "yes, babies are very lovable, and when you have one, you want to take the best care of it you can -- which you're not old/mature/financially stable enough to do right now. Which is a good reason to not have sex."
(Among other good reasons, none of which involve vilifying either the people involved, their impulses and desires, or sex itself.)
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Punitive attitudes toward people who have made bad or stupid choices won't help, particularly when there's a baby involved, and espousing such nonsense isn't a form of "tough love." It's an insufficiency of love. Enough love would cover over mistakes and be able to accept the reality of the situation as it is now rather than being so morbidly focused on the past that those mistakes can never be redeemed.
'Course I'm just quoting the Bible at this point: John when he said "perfect love casts out fear," and that "love covers a multitude of sins."
How's that for conventional source material, h8rs.
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What confuses me about Bristol's comments is that she has helped raise three other siblings (assuming Trig is her brother), yet she acts like she's never noticed how much time babies take up!
There's no reason to not have sex if you don't want to have a baby -- just don't have UNPROTECTED sex! She makes it sound like the only options are abstinence or parenthood. Maybe in the Palin household, but not in the real world.
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