Thou shalt not kid yourself

So remember during the US election campaign, all that fuss over Republican veep nominee Sarah Palin's preference for abstinence education? So remember how we saw how that worked for her 17-year old daughter Bristol, who had a son in December? So remember how the US teen pregnancy rate is climbing?

So anyway here's Bristol herself on the subject, as seen last night on Fox News:

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: I don't want to pry to personally, but I mean, actually, contraception is an issue here. Is that something that you were just lazy about or not interested, or do you have a philosophical or religious opposition to it or...

 BRISTOL: No. I don't want to get into detail about that. But I think abstinence is, like -- like, the -- I don't know how to put it -- like, the main -- everyone should be abstinent or whatever, but it's not realistic at all.

Watch it:

Like it or baby bump it, we live in a highly-sexualized society, in which people do what comes naturally. Rather than preach at kids and put their lives and well-being at risk by ignoring reality and denying them the tools to make informed and safe choices, we should be giving them the education they need so that girls act with their own best interests at heart while boys give those girls the respect they deserve, even if they sometimes don't act like want it.

And yeah, I know that sounds preachy too but I've been there, done that, got the tight and low-cut T-shirt.

On a snarky note, it's obvious where Bristol gets her speech patterns from.

Tip of the red hat to Mattt with three Ts.

UPPITY DATE: More on that interview here, including a few words from Gramma Sarah.

When Van Susteren asked Gov. Palin, who joined the interview, about abstinence, she seemed similarly dismissive of her former views on abstinence, admitting, “It sounds naive.” Bristol added, “I just — I hope that people learn from my story and just, like, I don’t know, prevent teen pregnancy, I guess.”

UPPITY WOMAN DATE: Salon says Sarah twisted Bristol's words.

To Sarah Palin and Van Susteren's minds, the real story here was not about cautioning other teens, or preventing teen pregnancies, it was about how to deal with them once they'd -- inevitably, it seems -- happened. In Van Susteren's words, about "how important it is for families to pitch in." The Alaska governor, pausing for a moment of generous reflection, said, "I don't know how other families do it. If they kind of assume that the young parent is going to make it on their own, or assume that government would take care of the young parent and child. That's not government's role. This is a role for families to pitch in and help."

So the bigger message here, as spun by Greta Van Susteren and Sarah Palin, is that abstinence is a naive peg on which to hang our contraceptive hopes, but that when our daughters reproduce before they finish high school, we need to move beyond it -- not to discussions of birth control and abortion, but to the fact that the Palins are an unusually big, helpful, supportive group, and that other less fortunate young mothers should go out and get multigenerational families to help them out because it's not the government's responsibility.

How perfectly, sadly nonsensical. And how poignant that the untrained and unrehearsed and inelegant message of the young woman who actually had the baby, the one who said, "I think everyone should just wait 10 years," made far more sense than the politicized jabbering of her elders.

Comments

[brebis noire]

Wow, talk about mixed messages.
Abstinence doesn't work. But people should be abstinent. But it's not realistic. But when people see stories like mine it will encourage them to be abstinent.
Because, like, having a BABY is so rewarding!

[neko]

I'm not getting the message here, Bristol.

What I hear from you is that teens are supposed to learn to be abstinate by seeing your story and realizing that being a teen mother isn't a cakewalk.

But what I see is different. I see a pretty young thing; perfect hair, clothes, makeup, lost a lot of the pregnancy weight and it's only been two months...
I see a young girl on television. She had her 15 minutes and is now back for more with this interview and let's be honest; American culture programs people to pursue fame, especially while they are young enough for the youth-obsessed culture to appreciate them.

So, like, Bristol, your words, like, tell me very little, because... like... you know... what I see is a glamorous life of beauty and fame. So how about not touting your 'story' as a morality tale? Get your face out of the press, off the gossip sites (Perez Hilton's demographic are girls your age, after all), be a Mother to your child and if anyone asks, respond with one word: condom.