Oh yeah, one of the many damned-if-you-do-or-don't traps laid out for women.
I have a theory that a lot of this stems from the US having been (and still being!) a Puritan nation. 'Cause if you want to deal with teen mothers, support them. Help them go to school if they want, enable them to stay home and raise their kids if they want, educate them on how not to get pregnant again. But there's a strong urge in the US to punish. So all that would be too easy. And wouldn't you then be *encouraging* teen sex ('cause that needs encouraging)?!
The US wants more to punish rather than prevent: see the death penalty, anti-choice legislation, welfare programs that have mothers spending 4 hours bussing to and from work so they rarely see their children. The idea that you might "sin" and not be made to suffer seriously bothers a lot of people.
And, yeah, it's not just the US but it's among the worst for this and I think it's 'cause of the Puritan base of the culture. And 'cause I'm a product of it so I can say so. ;)
no subject
I have a theory that a lot of this stems from the US having been (and still being!) a Puritan nation. 'Cause if you want to deal with teen mothers, support them. Help them go to school if they want, enable them to stay home and raise their kids if they want, educate them on how not to get pregnant again. But there's a strong urge in the US to punish. So all that would be too easy. And wouldn't you then be *encouraging* teen sex ('cause that needs encouraging)?!
The US wants more to punish rather than prevent: see the death penalty, anti-choice legislation, welfare programs that have mothers spending 4 hours bussing to and from work so they rarely see their children. The idea that you might "sin" and not be made to suffer seriously bothers a lot of people.
And, yeah, it's not just the US but it's among the worst for this and I think it's 'cause of the Puritan base of the culture. And 'cause I'm a product of it so I can say so. ;)