Something that struck me as interesting in this chapter was the rate at which young people were marrying. Hine explained that after World War II, the U.S. was very prosperous, and high paying jobs were becoming available to young men as never before. In the past there was always the idea that the young could work, but with the exception that they be paid lower wages, so as not to make jobs unavailable to adults. But at this time in American history, high paying jobs were easy to find for young men, making it idealistic for them be able to support a family, resulting in people marrying at younger ages.
The age at which they would marry dropped steadily in the years between 1947 and 1956. In 1959, Hine says “teenage pregnancy reached its modern-day peak,” but there was no controversy over this because these teens were married. This struck me as a phenomenon, because most teens having children today have them out of wedlock. In my opinion, this is happening because it seems popular media, T.V., in music, in movies; in almost all forms of entertainment, promiscuity is being promoted and the idea of postponing marriage is being promoted. When I was 18, I joked to my parents about getting married at 20, and they said emphatically “no, you should live your life. Go see other people, go to school, and live on your own for a couple of years. Think about getting married latter.” I've always wondered why they felt this way.
Learning in the Age of the Trigger Warning
11 years ago
I agree whole heartedly that the idea of promiscuity is being flaunted all throughout our nation’s media. Phrases like “my baby’s daddy” are so commonplace that they hardly get a second thought. But if you really think about it its kind of disgusting how we view our traditional rites of passage. I’m reminded of the schoolyard taunt ending with “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes ____ with the baby carriage.” What happened to that? When did it become cool to have a baby daddy? I just saw a movie on Lifetime the other day called the Pregnancy Pact. It’s about a town full of teenage girls who all decide to get pregnant together. Although the message from that movie clearly states that it’s not a good idea to get pregnant in your teens, other TV shows like The Gilmore Girls, and Life Unexpected show that life can turn out perfectly even for a teen mom. Jamie Lynn Spears and even Bristol Palin show a total happy go lucky view of teenage motherhood. The reality is not so pretty. I wish the media would show some better examples and maybe help to dissuade today’s young women away from the disgusting phenomena.
ReplyDeleteI think that today some young teenagers think it is kind of cool to get pregnant. There is now a show on MTV called 16 and pregnant and it is all about these teenagers who cant support themselves gettting pregnant and getting their lives taped by MTV. These young girls must be show boating themselves to get on television. It is sad too that so many people tune in to watch it but these girls are clearly not ready to have such a huge commitment.
ReplyDeleteI think that having a baby now out of wedlock is less frowned upon than back in the 1940’s and 50’s. It is sad to say that but there are a lot of things out there such as celebrities, TV shows and even movies telling teenagers that it is okay to have a baby at a young age. It is harder to support a child today with the economy the way it is. Also, I have the same views as your parents about living my life and getting married later, I could not imagine having a child at 16 or even 20 and still trying to grow up and live my life. It is really sad that some girls find it okay to want to get pregnant at such a young age.
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