MTV shows “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant” have been under constant fire for being mindless shows that misrepresent pregnancy.
They have been called bad influences, horrible and have also been put under the branch of television that is known as idiotic reality television.
I would like to point out there is a show regarding pregnancy and motherhood out there that eclipses any claim of idiocy hurled against the popular MTV shows.
“I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant,” a show on Discovery Health that follows women (women, not teenage girls) who, before the actual birth of their children, had no clue that they were with child, is the jewel in the crown of idiotic reality television.
Now, hearing the title and the premise of the show, one might think that this show follows women from the backwater swamps of Kentucky or maybe even circus people.
Instead, when tuning in to this wonderful series, the viewer might be shocked to find that the show follows normal women.
Not just normal women, but college educated women. Women who have professions in the medical field. Women who have had children. Women who, despite having a functioning brain and common sense, didn’t know they were pregnant.
The best part of the entire series is when they name off the symptoms they had prior to actually knowing.
Did most of them gain weight: yes (oddly only in the stomach.)
Did any of the women ever feel a kicking sensation in the stomach: yes (but they just felt like normal stomach cramps!).
Did they have morning sickness during any period of their unknown pregnancy: yes (but they swear they thought it was food poisoning…for three months).
Seriously, the mothers of Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant are getting flak for being irresponsible but these women go unscathed?
Conservative viewers are calling for their children to be taken away, commenting on how they set a bad example. I would rather see a teenager raise a baby than someone who can go nine months without realizing that her womb is occupied.
I think anyone who can go nine months without realizing they’re pregnant belongs on a most wanted list generated by Child Protective Services. If they can pass a psych evaluation and prove that their I.Q. has hit the double-digits, then they keep their baby.
“I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant,” shouldn’t be on air. It might be interesting at first, like watching someone attempt to pull a push-door for five minutes, but all it does is prove that there are morons in the world and they walk among us (and go on to reproduce too).
“Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant” actually do something. They give honest portrayals of teen motherhood.
Instead of criticizing them, I think we need to stop and think about what these shows provide the world. Studies have shown that this show has helped to decrease teen pregnancy, something that in itself is amazing.
If schools stopped using abstinence-only education (because when has God ever really kept someone’s pants on) and started hammering in a mix of contraceptives and those two shows, I guarantee you teen pregnancy would hit an all-time low.
