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What's the Sun-Times editorial board smoking today? Whatever it is, it sure reeks. Of paternalism.
Let's start with the studied take on one Miss Jamie Lynn Spears.
At 16 and knocked up, Jamie Lynn Spears won't be scandalized for her condition like teen moms of yesteryear. At least she is having her baby and not aborting it or denying responsibility. Let's just hold our breaths and hope she has learned from her big sister Britney: how not to be a mom..... [W]e're glad she chose to have her baby because we know she had a choice.
We'd argue that Ms. Spears has indeed been shamed for getting pregnant at 16. And why the "at least she's not having an abortion"? Hundreds of thousands of American women gets abortions every year. It is legal. Wasn't the Sun-Times supposed to be our progressive newspaper? Women can choose to terminate or not terminate their pregnancies, but it's hardly the Sun-Times's role to congratulate or demonize those choices. Especially when only a third of teenage mothers complete high school, 1.5 percent graduate from college by the time they're 30, and children of teenage parents are incarcerated at higher rates than children of older parents--we have no idea what the definition of "denying responsibility" is, but maybe the lesson she could have learned from her sister, or from countless unfit parents in America, or from the thousands of struggling teenage parents is don't have children yet. [Stats]
But maybe more frustrating is the short-sighted piece, "Who we have to thank for keeping America's future bright may surprise you." You might be surprised that women have a little something to do with our nation! Shocking.
[American] women are determined to have children. U.S. fertility rates dipped in the 1970s as a result of widespread access to birth control. Since then, the rate of births to unwed mothers has shot up. Nearly 40 percent of births in 2006 were to unmarried women. .... American women aren't getting any breaks, either. They don't get state-funded child care (France does); 18 months of paid maternity/paternity leave (Sweden does); liberal paid leave (the United Kingdom does), or a one-time payment to have a second child (Italy).It says something about American women that even though they don't have husbands or governmental support, they are so determined to have a child they will make the sacrifices necessary. Sounds like the makings of a good mother to us.
But while American women are making it work, they shouldn't give up their quest for more support and balance. That means having an education, a good job, a baby -- and a husband.
You've come a long way, American women! Rather than use this editorial space to advocate different kinds of family-friendly policies, we'll remind you that the most important thing a mother can do is sacrifice. Let's align martyrdom with motherhood as much as possible--c'mon, we all know it's not supposed to be easy. And it wouldn't be an ass-backwards editorial without a heteronormative ding right at the end.
Jamie Lynn photo via Tasteful Society
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She's ultra hot in that photo.
Ladies, go and get yourself a husband. It don't matter if you're in love. It don't matter if you're a Lesbian. Go get yourself a husband because you're gonna be a fucking mess without one.
-The Chicago Sun-Times
Sarah - it's not about a woman having a husband, it's about a child having two responsible parents. And yes, in our WORLD, the convention is a mother and a father. Perhaps one parent isn't enough. The prisons and street gangs of our world are full of the children of single mothers. The denigration of the role of a male in the raising of children is a sad trend. There's a lot to be said about the shared responsibility for raising a child, especially when you're mature enough to do so. Stop thinking it's all about the mother. Having a child is a hell of a lot about the quality of life for that child. People seem to lose sight of that and get all excited about a 'woman's right' to have children. It's unfair that women seem to think it's OK to get pregnant without a plan for raising their offspring. Too bad the unborn don't get to choose if they want to be born into an environment that isn't going to optimally support their upbringing. It's also unfair to our world, where we must deal with people who have not been brought up to be productive members of any society, because their parents were children [teenagers] who didn't have enough life experience to guide their children towards that productivity.
Wow... Both to the cited articles and matty's comment. Seriously.
And remember, it's better to have an abusive husband than no husband at all. If he beats on you every once in a while, it's probably because you deserved it. Oh, and the best way to vote is by subtly influencing your husband. Does that about cover it?
Sadly, just because a woman has a husband does not mean that there are two responsible parents.
I think there may be at least a couple of people who grew up in single parent homes that haven't joined gangs or been incarcerated. One or two.
And remember, it's better to have an abusive husband than no husband at all. If he beats on you every once in a while, it's probably because you deserved it. Oh, and the best way to vote is by subtly influencing your husband. Does that about cover it?
Sadly, just because a woman has a husband does not mean that there are two responsible parents.
I think there may be at least a couple of people who grew up in single parent homes that haven't joined gangs or been incarcerated. One or two.
And remember, it's better to have an abusive husband than no husband at all. If he beats on you every once in a while, it's probably because you deserved it. Oh, and the best way to vote is by subtly influencing your husband. Does that about cover it?
Sadly, just because a woman has a husband does not mean that there are two responsible parents.
I think there may be at least a couple of people who grew up in single parent homes that haven't joined gangs or been incarcerated. One or two.
Yabbi,
Your personal beliefs about a two-parent household aside, this particular editorial, which is our point of commentary, very explicitly references a HUSBAND. Yes, raising a child is a huge responsibility, and yes, if that responsibility is shared by two responsible adults (regardless of gender), it should be that much easier. I don't think that was ever a point of dispute. The point here, friend, is that this editorial applauds the 16-year-old, who is single and pregnant, for having her baby because it is the "responsible" thing to do. If your final sentence is truth, then why are we applauding yet another teenager to have a baby and run the risk of raising yet another "unproductive member of society?"
And you seem to have the whole "woman's right to be a mother" point ass-backwards because that argument is typically applied to women who are making a choice to not raise a child they are not ready to have -- a choice that Jamie Lynn not only didn't make but is being applauded for not making.
My brother and I were both put up for adoption as babies because our birth mothers were teenagers who found themselves in a very unfortunate situation (young, pregnant and poor). And by being responsible enough to realize that there were people out there dying to be parents (my parents, incidentally, who couldn't have kids because of my mom's hysterectomy), and that they could not provide a stable life for their children just yet ... well, that decision may very well have saved our lives.