I'm not going to go on about this, and I rarely address issues in gossip media here at dame. But I'm tired of the hypocrisy.
To be clear, certainly I am saddened that another woman is pregnant before reaching adulthood. It is disturbing that her family allowed her to live with a man who is legally an adult when she is still only 16. I know parents are in a panic as to what they are going to tell their children and I am sympathetic to their discomfort. All over the internet gossip blogs are having a field day. Angry parents are vilifying her for "glamorizing" teen pregnancy. Some people are commending her for making a difficult decision. I think an important point is being missed.
The Spears family have significant rescources. If she had chosen to, young Ms. Spears could have obtained an abortion with complete anonymity. She could have gone on being the popular star of a children's television program and maintained her reputation. A fair number of the same parents who are furious with her for making teen pregnancy seem acceptable would be horrified if she had an abortion. But then, they would never know.
I happen to be Pro-Choice. That does not alter my feeling respect for someone willing to make such a difficult choice. This is unheard of in Hollywood, right? 16 year old television stars do not get pregnant. I think we should be asking ourselves, however, if Ms. Spears is the first particularly young woman in Hollywood to ever have an unplanned pregnancy - or is she simply the first not to choose to take the easy way out?
I don't think this is the first time this has happened. I just think it's the first time I have heard of a young woman in her position putting her personal beliefs ahead of her fame.
EDIT: My friend Larken made a very important point and I wanted to address it - It is difficult to know how accurate these reports are. Although OK magazine was the original source, the information has been confirmed by Nickelodeon via a public statement. If the information IS inaccurate, it is being disseminated by the Spears family. While there has been a lot of negative publicity for Britney, I cannot imagine them conciously countering that with a teen pregnancy scandal. It DOES take the spotlight off of big sis - but that would SERIOUSLY be "taking one for the team."
Based on the information at hand I would have to assume the reports are accurate. If they are not, then Jamie Lynn Spears may be in for a lawsuit from Nickelodeon.
Completely unrelated and irrelevant but I cannot stand that girl's name.
Goodbye Paula. You will be missed.
2 days ago
I wish I could believe this...and maybe its somewhat true. But OK magazine, who had exclusive rights to cover the story cut a multi million dollar deal with Jamie for exlusive rights to the story...but she doesn't get the money until she has the baby and they get exclusives on that, too.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not Jamie Lynn is the one making the decision, I'm sure mama spears is pushing that cash cow forwards the best she can, especially now that Britney's career is going down the tubes.
I do like the idea...but I'm not sure I can believe it.
You make an important point. I really assumed the reports were just absurd gossip until Nickelodeon issued a statement, which they would not have done unless Spears assured them that the story was true.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the Spears family could have made it all up. I'm sure the deal with OK was for a fair bit of money. But I also keep reminding myself that there are a lot of other ways Jamie Lynn could make millions of dollars (and that the sum doesn't seem as enormous to people who discuss earnings in those terms as they do to those of us who don't) - ways that don't require her to produce an infant in order to collect the cash.
So I tend to think it's true. Certainly there's a lot of image control and money changing hands and publicists freaking out over how to spin this, but I think there's probably also a 16 year old who is genuinely in the family way.