Even though I don’t have children of my own, I still find I have protective maternal instincts for children in general, and this article fired all those instincts into action.
Forever 21, that hip teen store, has launched a line of maternity wear for pregnant teens.
On the one hand, I think that if ever a group of women needed help to feel good about themselves, pregnant teens are it. But the maternal side of me thinks that making pregnancy attractive to teens by offering cool outfits is completely insane.
If you read the comments under the article you’ll see a number of people who think that this move won’t encourage teen pregnancy. I say baloney. I can clearly remember back in the days before hormones started my actual baby madness that, whenever I walked past a maternity store with stylish outfits draped over neat bumps, I’d daydream about the day I’d get to be pregnant. Those clothes made motherhood look beautiful and fun and desirable. Is this the message we want to send to our teens, that you too can be hip and trendy; all you need to do is get knocked up?
Yikes.
Maybe I’m being cynical, but we’ve all experienced the alluring commercialism of the motherhood industry, all those conferences and stores selling their glorious image of motherhood. And we’re (allegedly) sensible adults. Is this what we want to sell to impressionable teens?
I agree with you. Just because there is a need doesn’t mean we should be catering to it. I feel the same way about all the teen motherhood shows on MTV. By showing that “everyone is doing it” it sends a message that it’s just part of normal teen life and it’s not. The cute clothing glamorizes pregnancy and makes it more appealing to young girls and really, most of them can wear normal clothing anyway since empire waists are in fashion. I don’t understand it at all.
Cute clothes aside, i wanted to be a mama when i was really young (before i could become one). Frankly, had the opportunity arrived, i probably would have done the stupid teen “now i have someone to love me” thing. I do find it rather ironic that i’ll never be a mama.
I didn’t handle it well when my 20 YO niece, pregnant with their first child, was bitching & moaning at FB recently about how her clothes didn’t fit & she was losing her slim figure. I had to sit on my hands not to tell her to keep it to herself. I may eventually try to clue her in that some of her friends may end up dealing with infertility & won’t appreciate hearing of her “difficulties.” Fact: If you are going to be blessed with a baby, you won’t have a slim figure for a while. EVERYONE who has this joy loses the slim figure during the pregnancy.
Yeah, I’m kind of over facebook at the moment. Too many joys of mommyhood posts. Of course, if you were really feeling wicked, you could come back and say, ha ha, fatty, too bad, so sad, should have used a condom! Sigh. Yeah, I wouldn’t have gone there either. But I’m not above thinking things like that sometimes.
Yes, I agree with you Lisa. If I shopped at Forever 21, I would boycott them. I think it is part of the commercial pressure from the baby industry. Furthermore, if you’re 16 and pregnant, should you really be spending your cash on trendy maternity clothes that only last a few months?