Once again, I am blogging on the ways in which young people themselves are challenging stereotypes and conventions regarding teen sex, sexuality and pregnancy...I found this blog post - referencing a couple of articles about a teenage girl who faked a pregnancy for a school assignment, and recorded the reactions of those around her to demonstrate how shaming and morality impact the topic.
Read this story...what do you think about her findings? Do you think this was a good way to fulfill the assignment? Would you have taken this one? How does intersectionality impact her experience (see her words regarding society's assumptions about Latinas).
I thought this article was interesting in the sense that it proved that maybe teen pregnancy isn't as cool as people may think teens think it is. I always thought it was kind of cool to have a teen friend with a baby but would never trade places with her. In high school kids would flock to her to be seen as a friend of the "Pregnant Girl". No one would dare talk about her negatively to me because I was her friend, but I'm sure there were people who said the same things about my friend as they said about Gaby.
ReplyDeleteI think by being not only a fake pregnant girl but also a Latina fake pregnant girl people felt more comfortable stereotyping her. If she had been white I think they probably would have been more surprised than expectant of her pregnancy. I also think its the only way to conduct the experiment. No one would honestly tell someone that they thought less of someone else because of a pregnancy. It was for the best that at the end of the day Gaby could unstrap her belly and disconnect herself from the project.
Jean Carr
ASHLEE REECE SAYS:
ReplyDeleteI think Gaby's findings were interesting but not so much surprising. Stereotypes do help reinforce people's opinions about one another, especially pregnant women of color. For Gaby to take this approach toward her assignment was very bold and creative. I think that this was a great way to get the full experience and accurate data of the stereotypes and statistics that Gaby was looking for. This is an approach that I would have considered but probably wouldn't have done it because of how involved I would actually have to be in the whole project. As far as intersectionality and people's issues affecting what they thought about Gaby, it was very apparent. After her secret was revealed and the note cards were read in the gym, people realized how bad it all sounded. It's a shame that people assume that about Latin girls but I think that the project Gaby did have an affet on her entire campus.
I've been reading a bit about this and I thought it was a great way to explore stereotypes about race, class, gender and how they intersect with teen pregnancy. I'm willing to bet if she was a white teen, she wouldn't have gotten the same reaction. This was a great way to look at this issue because it isn't all statistics and abstract figures, but this girls life and actual experiences.
ReplyDeleteCarlita Warren said...
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with everyones previous comment. I was shocked with her findings, but I was not shocked that her school perceived Latino girls in that way. This is the first I have heard of a student conducting a experiment or fulfilling an assignment like this in this way. I honestly believe that faking her pregnancy was the best way to get statistics. It was a great way to see the stereotypes people had towards pregnant teens. I agree with Cat and race, class, gender all intersect with teen pregnancy in so many different ways. Im sure Gaby found so many connections. I agree with Jean, if she had been white would it been more of an surprised. With that , I wonder if she had been wealthy or of a different race or a popular girl, would her findings be different? Would the comments on the card be different.? All in all I feel like this experiment was great and more teen girls need to experience what Gaby did. It would be like a form of birth control. Maybe it could help decrease teen pregnancy in schools.
I think that this was the best way for her to actually get the truth about the reactions that the school would have. If you were to just go around giving a survey the school would not have been completely honest, they do not want to sound racist in any way. I think that race played a part in this. If Gaby was white and not Latin then I think that she might have got a much different response then she did. I agree with Carlita when she talked about how more students should participate in this experiment. I think that actually having to go through the judgement of other people will help teens realize that being a teen mom is not so glamorous.
ReplyDelete- Sam Flores
To me her findings would be what I would expect. To me it was the best way to fulfill her assignment. I would have taken this assignment because at the high school I went to there were always pregnant girl but usually it wasn't a good girl that was pregnant. It was one that didnt care about school and skipped alot and other things. I would like to know what would of been said if I did this assignment because I had great grades, I was always at school and involved in alot of school activites. Intersectionality impacts her life because people think that hispanic girls are ones that get pregnant alot in their teens. And well she did fake a pregnancy and she was a teen that was hispanic
ReplyDelete-Jamie Brueggeman
I can't believe she went through all of that to prove a point, it really shows a lot about that girl's character. She proved a great point that people's attitude about a young woman changes so quickly when they become pregnant. As if teen moms don't have enough to worry about, their best friends instantly turn against them and call them names. There has got to be so much pressure going from the straight A student to the stereotypical Hispanic pregnant teen. Even though I was very comfortable in high school I still dont think I would have taken the assignment. I don't think people would look into the fact that I was proving a point, they would just see another pregnant teen and judge the crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteMaggie Anderson
The article described an interesting social experiment and touches on a few great points. It also fails at the end when the writer talks about the glamorizing of teen pregnancy instead of focusing on all the interesting social stigmas that were brought up in the article. It would have been interesting also to see how the school reacted to the woman's "pregnancy" had they not know it was fake and for a class project. It was also interesting to point out how the young woman talked about the ways in which she was not going to get pregnant, and was excited to wear a form fitting dress to prom basically reiterating the idea that she is still an acceptable member of society because she is not actually pregnant. While I am sure that the community learned many things from this class project the young woman was able to take off her pregnancy. She is not an actual member of that community who has to suffer from institutional failures and social stigmas. Lets focus on those women and their struggles. I am sure that we can learn a lot from them on how our systems are flawed.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Wood
From my perspective about this situation, I believed that with this experiment she found out how teen moms really felt as they live their day to day life while at school and among family. One thing that i did not see with in this story was the point of view from the boyfriend. Did he experience what teen fathers on 16 and pregnant experienced? How did his parents react? Although she felt shunned and ostracized, she really only got a taste of what teen moms really feel like and go through.
ReplyDelete-India M.
First, I think it is awesome that Gaby went through with this assignment. I agree that it says a LOT about her character. She is very brave and clearly wants to show the world that they are wrong. Hopefully people were able to get past their anger and see the point Gaby was trying to make, because it's an important one. She went from being a perfect girl, student, etc., to being just another statistic and 'let-down.'
ReplyDeleteI wish that the article would have told more about how people treated Gaby while she was "pregnant." I also am curious as to how people treated her boyfriend and how both of the families acted throughout the time she seemed to be pregnant.
(Brittany Randolph)
I think Gaby is a very intelligent person for thinking of this idea. I also think she is very brave for going through with it. I know for myself, I never would have thought of it or went through with it. I think the article is very true of how so-called "friends" and other people change when someone they know become pregnant. They change and talk behind their backs and in their faces for some people, they shouldn't be treated like they're not people or they don't have feelings. I"m sure the mothers realize their decisions and that its going to be difficult, but they shouldn't be shunned. I find the article and video very fitting. These teen moms shouldn't be trated like celebrities either. They're people just like anyone else. And if these people were really Gaby's friends they would have supported her and not judged her for what she did and dtried to understand why she did this for her assignment
ReplyDeleteIf only I could pull such an experiment off! I would never have had the guts for that sort of thing in high school, or the brains to think of doing the experiment in the first place. Her idea gives us a kind of refreshing, sobering look at our own assumptions and cultural biases. Honestly, I probably would have been one of those who judged her with a look, or someone who didn't stand up for her in conversation.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about the article itself. The author could have used the valuable opportunity such a large audience provides to comment on how susceptible we are to stereotypes rather than simply make the connection to Teen Mom and Sixteen and Pregnant, which as readers we would all have already made in the first place.
-- Greg W.
To begin with I think her finds go along with the norm of teenage pregnancy. People do talk about you if you are pregnant in high school. Once a girl is pregnant it "shows" how they are not a good girl anymore. With regards to her race, being Hispanic, there are stereotypes that people think of when a person of that race gets pregnant. It is good that she commented on Good Morning America about how "it's bound to happen to a young hispanic woman" This is similar to the article we read latina women's sex education and how they are often times seen as more sexual. From reading the reactions and comments to the article on the website, it is present that no one really wants to talk about race and the stereotypes that goes along with it. Everyone commented on how "obviously" teens would judge and ostracize her because teen pregnancy is a "problem" but no one agreed that she was frowned upon because of her race. It goes along with the colorblindness idea how people just try to avoid race.
ReplyDeleteIt think this was a very creative way to do her assignment, she definitely seems like a burgeoning sociologist. Defying social constructions. It definitely took a lot of dedication to do that. It would have been interesting if she would have possibly compared comments about herself and someone one else who was of a different race or class to see how that plays a part in judgments. That would have been too elaborate though, so for a high school student kudos to her. I don't know if I could have done that, because I am truly not that creative and lazy, she had to wear a wire baby belly, annoying! I think that teen pregnancy is definitely an issue that needs to be talked about but no one is trying to dive deeper, many people just talk about the surface stuff of how hard life is, etc. But doesn't really question that is, so I am glad she picked a topic and tried to discover deeper implications of teen pregnancy. She is definitely an intelligent girl recognizing how things intersect like race, class, gender, orientation, etc.
I must add, the comments on the website are kind of ridiculous, there are a few that talk sense about the "issue" at hand. However, most just go along with the stereotypes and judgments. They commented about how people should judge and tell her she messed up because teen pregnancy is "bad" or a "problem". Which shows the lack of education we as a society have on this issue. I think teen pregnancy has become the scapegoat for so many social issues including racism, classism, and more. I don't think these commenters would say it was ok to ridicule a larger person for making bad choice on the food they ate, or for not exercising and how they are ruining their life by being obese. However, it is socially acceptable to openly comment on a pregnant teen on how "irresponsible" she is and how she is "ruining her life" and what not. But anyway, obviously our society has a lot of changing to be done.
Maegen Hahn
This is a great example of how sterotypes are so effective in how people are viewed by skin color, gender, or race. The face that it wasn't surprising that a Latino girl got pregnant could kind of be taking offensively to Latino women as a whole. What's the difference is a white girl or a black girl got pregnant? Were all human, we all have feelings, share the same body parts, I don't really agree with sterotyping, but in this case it was good for Gaby because people were not mean to her.
ReplyDelete-Breanna Russo
I think that most people can agree that there is a stereotype associated with teenage pregnancy, but I would like to see this experiment duplicated in different schools with women of a different ethnicity and economic status than Ms. Rodriguez. I also think it would be interesting to see how peers react differently based on how well the supposed mother does in school, sports, and social activities.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think this experiment could be taken farther to incorporate more variables, I believe both Ms. Rodriguez and her peers have learned a lot from this. Such an elaborate hoax must have been very eye-opening for the entire high school. I can only hope that the people who criticized Ms. Rodriguez will take the time to assess their thoughts and stereotypes.
-Ryan Cuscaden