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Kids Today: Relationship Drama

I've had a difficult time getting into the new season of 16 and Pregnant, and yesterday I think I may have figured out why that is.

I still enjoy watching the show, for the most part. I thought maybe I was just bored with the concept--if you've seen the story of one teenage pregnancy, you've seen them all. But that can't be true, can it? Of course I assume that MTV picks a certain type to appear on this show. There has to be some drama, after all. I wouldn't really want to watch a show about a girl who got pregnant, decided to have an abortion/give the baby up for adoption/keep the baby and everything turned out OK, no major drama. The people who typically are cast for any MTV show are pretty high-drama people. But when I was watching Tuesday night's episode, I finally realized--it's not that I'm tired of watching the same type of teenage girl over and over. I'm tired of watching teenage girls stuck in what I would consider abusive relationships.

I realized that most of the drama on 16 and Pregnant has little to do with the pregnancy or even the young women's decisions to keep these babies. Most of the drama is generated from the terrible, horrible relationships that these girls are in. And if one watches these kinds of relationships portrayed on "reality" television over and over again, they become the norm.

Of course the girls' parents are not happy with the jerk boyfriend/baby daddies either. But more concerning to me are the attitudes displayed by the girls' friends, and the attitudes of the girls themselves who can't seem to see that these guys really are jerks and that they deserve better, baby or no baby. It was heartbreaking to watch Nikkole deal with her jerk of a boyfriend who treated her like crap even through her entire labor, painful to watch as Valerie (only 15 years old and pregnant) received a message from her boyfriend saying he wanted nothing to do with her...and this week's episode was the worst yet. I wish the show would take more time to deal with, not only the fact that these girls are having babies, but that these kinds of relationships are not OK.

Another reason that these relationships have me upset: these girls are all way cuter than the guys they are with. Way cuter. So you're dating a douche bag and he's not even very good looking?? Dump that sh**! He knocked you up and he still won't commit or treat you with respect? Your boyfriend, the uggo, gets upset and calls you a whore when you go out with your friends? But you want to make things work because of the baby??? It is NOT better for a kid to have a douce bag father than no father. That is a myth. Your babies will be better off with one parent who is actually mature enough to love another human being.



In this week's episode, our teen mom did eventually cut the bad news baby daddy out of her life, and I was happy about that. I'm not giving up on this season yet, and hopefully in the coming weeks MTV will show a little variety or at least address the fact that these guys are total jerk faces. I'm also a little tired of the fact that every girl this season has been a "party girl." Don't non crazy party girls sometimes end up pregnant, too?

Whew, sorry for the rant, blogosphere! In happier news, the newest cycle of America's Next Top Model began this week! Hooray! This cycle's theme is social networking. Each girl had to create a "My Fierce Page" and hope to "Friend" Tyra. If the girls' friend requests were not accepted, they were eliminated. Perez Hilton gueststarred because he won a bet that he made six months ago on the Tyra Show. Tyra said that if he could go six months without blogging about celebrities' kids then he could appear on an episode of ANTM. None of the girls stand out so far, but I'm sure I'll come to love and hate them as the cycle continues.

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  1. Blogger chris | 10:38 PM |  

    This was a good read, and I enjoy watching these terrible shows vicariously through you, Brigitte, but I can't help but have one minor complaint:

    MORE AVATAR FAN FICTION!!!!

    Or is it dead because Cameron failed to bring home the gold?

  2. Anonymous Dan | 10:55 PM |  

    Haha, that's really how Tyra boots people from the show? That's better than being voted off the island or getting "fiahd" by Donald Trump.

  3. Blogger Papa Thor | 7:20 AM |  

    Brigitte, it's good to see your good Catholic, judgemental upbringing is starting to manifest itself! You should host a reality show where you just shake your head disapprovingly when someone does something "douchey" and smile approvingly when they make healthy choices. That would straighten out this country!
    Also, more Avatar fan fiction!

  4. Blogger Anna | 8:40 AM |  

    Okay, first of all, my office firewall blocks The Blogulator, making us use "quota time" to access it, whatever that is. Who's been posting porn?

    Second of all, YES! You said it. This Chelsea episode was pretty awful. (Did she remind anyone of Farrah? Just sort of how she looked? Although Farrah's much prettier, obvs.) The stuff that guy said to her...it makes me wonder where their parents are. Nikkole's boyfriend's mom FINALLY yelled at him when NIKKOLE WAS IN LABOR and he was being a huge dick to her, but come on! This is your kid and you're like, "Matthew, go outside if you want to be a monster"? Sixteen years too late, Mom. Sixteen years too late. You're awful.

    The worst part is when they go on the reunion specials and Dr. Drew is like, "Well, Macie, the thing is, men just aren't capable of loving their children as much as you love Bentley. It's just a guy thing. You have to cut him some slack." UH, no you do not Macie! Dr. Drew is THE WORST. He should go to jail.

    Look, it turns out that rants are contagious!

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