Thread: Why did teen pregnancy become so stigmatized?

Ignorance, materialism, lousy parenting skills, profit, agendas.Good question.

One of my great-grandmothers married at 13, and one of my adoptive great-grandmothers married at 14. It's just a different world now than it was then. My father-in-law was working at a foundry when he was 14. He didn't marry until later, but his father died when he was 8, and he and his brother had to work to support their mother. They had a small pension from the civil war, but it wasn't much. (Yes, my father-in-law drew a civil war pension on his father. That family reproduced really, really late in life!) My own father dropped out of high school to join the military. He's living very, very comfortably today. Turns out the high-tech field pays a little better than a high school diploma. I had my first child at 18, and that son had a child at 19, but he's doing very well for himself, also. I just got off the phone with him, and he's getting ready for tomorrow night. He's a little jittery. He's being escorted by limo to an award ceremony, and if he's lucky, he'll win the award. In any case, he's a nominee. Young people are very capable of parenting if they choose to do so. I don't know why people decided it's so very wrong. I have difficulty blaming it on religion. Mary was very young when Jesus was born. If it's religiously motivated, the Christians have certainly forgotten their heritage. Poor Jesus wouldn't stand a chance today, would he? The manger police would be sending him straight to foster care.

I think you answered your question. In our great grandma's time all that was expected of a woman was marriage and raising a child.Now my parents expected me to finish college and get a job before i went the marriage and baby route. If i had gotten pregnant before i finished my education it would have been a huge disappointment and also since women don't stay at home anymore they'd be unable to offer support as a family as used to be done during gran'ma days.

What is interesting about the stigma is that now that many women are postponing motherhood until their 30s, the same stigma is being put onto women in their 20s, at least as found by these researchers in Canada: Whitley, R., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2008). Perceived stigmatisation of young mothers: An exploratory study of psychological and social experience. Social Science and Medicine, 66(2), 339-348. "Anglophone Euro-Canadian participants in their early 20s felt strongly stigmatised as mothers, which they attributed to their age at parity. In contrast, older Anglophone Euro-Canadian mothers and Anglophone Afro-Caribbean mothers of any age rarely mentioned stigma as a facet of even minor importance. The perceived stigma permeated the lifeworlds of younger Anglophone Euro-Canadian mothers with negative cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects. We argue that such stigmatisation may serve a penological function to affirm and maintain dominant Anglo-Canadian middle-class cultural norms emphasising the importance of education, careers and delayed childbearing for women. .... We conclude by theorising that Anglophone Euro-Canadian mothers in their early 20s may now be experiencing aspects of social exclusion traditionally associated with 'teenage mothers.' This may have a deleterious effect on health. "BTW, teen pregnancy rates now are no higher than they were a century ago. Nor is there any "epidemic." The highest rates in the last century were in the 1950s. They have declined ever since. Fifty years ago it was a stigma against unwed mothers. Now it is against adolescent mothers. As adolescent motherhood remained a cultural norm for impoverished non-white social groups long after white social groups began postponing child-bearing, the current stigma against teen mothers has been shown by sociologists to be closely tied with racism and classism. Also read "The Scapegoat Generation" for the blame put on adolescents for most of society's ills.

I just wanted to answer the "belief" that teen pregnancies is "epidemic" over the past 10 years. Actually, teen pregnancy is at the lowest level it's been in 30 years. Which I think is great news! More interesting stat's below:"The teenage pregnancy rate in this country is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990. A growing body of research suggests that both increased abstinence and changes in contraceptive practice are responsible for recent declines in teenage pregnancy.• The teenage pregnancy rate among those who ever had intercourse declined 28% between 1990 & 2002.• The teenage birthrate in 2002 was 30% lower than the peak rate of 61.8 births per 1,000 women, reached in 1991.• Between 1988 & 2000, teenage pregnancy rates declined in every state & in the District of Columbia.• By 2002, the teenage abortion rate had dropped by 50% from its peak in 1988.• From 1986 to 2002, the proportion of teenage pregnancies ending in abortion declined more than one-quarter from 46% to 34% of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds.• Among black women aged 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 40% between 1990 & 2002.• Among white teenagers, it declined by 34% during the same time period.• Among Hispanic teenagers, who may be of any race, the pregnancy rate increased slightly from 1991–1992, but by 2002 was 19% lower than the 1990 rate.http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdfAs far as the 'stigma' of teen pregnancy goes, it may have started after WWII with the huge growth in the middle class. Before WWII, about 1/3 of the population was middle class. Following WWII, because of the GI Bill, VA loans, etc., the middle class jumped to about 2/3rds of the population. There was huge pressure to conform throughout the late 40's & 50's. The 'new' middle class didn't want the 'shame' of unwed pregnancy to threaten their social position. Teen pregnancy is nothing new.

I think you can blame Gloria Steinem and her ilk. There can only be one 'choice' for a woman--what the Feminist Movement thinks.

simple answer: marital status. teen pregnancy is NOT an issue as long as the mother is married.

Generally speaking teens having babies is putting a giant burden on the teen's family because most teens (not all) aren't living on their own. If a teen is having their family pay for everything and take care of their kid then I would have no respect for them. If the teen has their own job, place to live, and is totally self-sufficient then I wouldn't consider it any more stigmatic than anyone else who is self-sufficient having children. Personally, I think teens who are stupid and get pregnant before they can support themselves OR the baby then decide to keep it do not deserve support from their parents.