From the Department of Not Surprised One Dadgum Bit comes news that Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister done got knocked up. She met the dude at -- get this -- church. Ah, Louisiana, the great state. Ah, my people. Seriously, God bless Jamie Lynn Spears for keeping her baby instead of killing it at the abortion clinic -- and I wish to be associated with David Kuo's compassionate remarks to that effect -- but you know, honestly...
UPDATE: Brit and Jamie Lynn's momma's parenting book is now on hold. In other news, Donald Trump's pensees on humility will be delayed by their publisher until next year.
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What makes this sad other than the fact she isn't married?
Excellent question. One thing that makes it hard for me to talk to my fellow feminists and liberals about such things as abortion and the "morning-after" pill is my opinion that unplanned pregnancy shouldn't be looked at as a humongous disaster. Maybe it's not a good thing, and the girl/woman should plan to give up the baby (one way or another). But maybe the only thing that makes it look so disastrous is that it's going to radically change the woman's life. Clearly, when you get blind-sided by the prospect of a radical change like that it's natural to want to try to avoid it. But can't you at least try on the idea that raising a child could be a good thing? We don't seem to be willing to do that (at least not in our rhetoric), and that's a pity.
Mrs. Pringle
"What makes this sad other than the fact that she isn't married?"
I have a six year old daughter who adores Jamie Lynn Spears. I rarely let her watch that "Zoey 101" show, but she's seen it a few times and thinks Ms. Spears is right up there with Hannah Montana. Yesterday, a friend at school told Amelia (my daughter)that "Zoey" was going to have a baby, and my daughter came rushing home, visibly terrified! "Mama, how can a TEENAGER have a baby?" she wanted to know. "She's just a kid! And she doesn't even have a husband!" I wasn't quite ready to have that conversation yet. I just told Amelia that, yes, it happened, but that it was rare, and that there were ways to make sure it DIDN'T happen, and we would talk about those ways later. Don't know if that sufficed or not...
I have no way of knowing whether this is "sad" news for Jamie Lynn Spears. Although it's my guess that instant motherhood was not on this unmarried, 16-year-old TV star's Christmas wish list. As a mom, I know it's not what I wish for my daughter.
joel,
"Even among Bible-believing fundies it's pretty hard to find anyone who will criticize a teenage girl for getting pregnant. They'll criticize that behavior in the abstract, but when a pregnant girl is actually sitting in one of the pews they won't say a word against it. Is this polite, or is it spineless?"
Forgive my cynicism, but isn't the pregnancy of a teen-aged girl the foundation for "Bible-beleiving" faith?
"Mama, how can a TEENAGER have a baby?" she wanted to know. "She's just a kid! And she doesn't even have a husband!" I wasn't quite ready to have that conversation yet."
Margaret, you'd better be ready to have that conversation pretty soon.
imo, Spears' example is yet another in a long line of dumb 'parenting' disasters that seem to inundate society nowadays. I think people ought to have to get a license, to qualify somehow, to become a parent. Just because you CAN reproduce doesn't mean you should.
Good thing Spears is heterosexual though. Otherwise she'd automaticaly be a 'bad parent'. ;{O)
How to resist a sardonic pile on crack here, but I'll shock even me by saluting the choice to have the kid. And to tell you that strange as it might seem, the people I grew up with who had their tenage children, whether they shot-gun married or stayed single, ALL are happier for it. Every one of them says their child grew up to be the blessing. And the 'shotgun' marriages lasted until now, whereas the more thoughtful and appropriately timed are divorced. Go figure!
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