Bristol Palin gets all glammed up in the June issue of Harper’s Bazaar – the SECOND time she’s done a FANTASY photo shoot for a magazine, making teen motherhood look like a dream.
Is Bristol Palin really setting a good example to other sexually active teen girls who might be misled into thinking that having a baby is the road to reality TV shows and magazine covers?
The now-19-year-old and mom to 15-month old Tripp models designer dresses at a cupcake-catered fashion shoot by photographer Danielle Levitt on location in Anchorage, Alaska. There’s a dreamy video of the day on the Harper’s Bazaar‘s website.
Less than a year ago in June 2008, Bristol modeled with baby son Tripp for the cover of People in an equally glammed-up fashion. She’s also landed the job as ambassador for the Candie’s Foundation, which combats teen pregnancy.
The problem is that while she has said that being a teen mom “kind of sucks” and that “I thought I would be somewhere warm at college with my friends, but that was definitely not possible with having Tripp,” she also coos over her baby.
“He’s like a Gerber Baby,” she tells the mag. “The cutest baby in the whole world.” She also calls him “a blessing.”
Of course that’s sweet. Every mom SHOULD feel their child is a blessing. But if you are trying to discourage teen pregnancy, Bristol, should you be making it seem like having a baby at 17 was the best gift ever?
You really shouldn’t be wanting to create that impression since the U.S. has the unfortunate distinction of having the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world. Three girls in 10 in the U.S. get pregnant by age 20 and there are more than 400,000 births to teen moms each year! Most like yourself, end up splitting from their baby daddys- in your case, from Levi Johnson.
You’re also photographed for the magazine in stunning Caroline Herrera, Lanvin and Isaac Mizrahi gowns. They range in price from $4,385 to $14,800. And the earrings you wear are almost $14,000 — hardly a real-life wardrobe for the average teen mom!
The photos like the pics in last year’s People – which didn’t show an article of clothing out of place in your spic and span home — sure make teenage single motherhood look like a fab thing to do!
Bristol, is that really the message you want to be sending? I don’t think it should be.
Do you agree or not, BFFs?
Plus, click here for more pics from Bristol’s photoshoot!
— Bonnie Fuller
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Tammie
Posted at 12:34 PM on July 14, 2010
90% of the population is probably unplanned. Get over it and leave her alone.
Annie
Posted at 6:47 AM on May 28, 2010
As said before: This is quite a ridiculous article. She has said that, “Being a teen mom kind of sucks”, but I mean she can’t necessarily embrace that sort of attitude if she is raising this child, can she? No, she cannot, she has to live with what she has done. Although she cannot be going off to college with her friends, being a mother is what comes first. She must embrace motherhood, as any proper women should if found in that situation. Personally, I do not think the fact that she is a teenage mother is distressing, but that she is an -unwed- teenage mother, which does give the wrong message.
Guest
Posted at 1:44 PM on May 27, 2010
I think this is ridiculous. Have you seen the shows that are on television and you’re worried about Bristol Palin glamorizing teen pregnancy? Let’s recap…. Secret Life of the American teenager, Teen Mom, 16 and pregnant. If you’re going to pin someone down why don’t you target the huge network shows that show glamorize teen pregnancy, make millions of dollars off of it and have millions of viewers watching every week, season after season. This whole article is ridiculous, and honestly, it’s this shady reporting that just helps lead to the degradation of society. It’s ridiculous.
Jean
Posted at 6:33 AM on May 27, 2010
Bonnie…shut up….that’s the stupidest comment ever. Isn’t she allowed to take a picture with her baby. Gosh. you’re an idiot writer!
Wasilla Jane
Posted at 10:10 AM on May 27, 2010
An “idiot writer?” “The stupidest comment ever.?”
If you want anyone to take your comments seriously, you might want to learn proper grammar and the use of the English language. Your comment sounds much more stupid (and angry & ignorant) compared to Bonnies well thought out article.
Bonnie, you make excellent points. I agree with other posters that Bristol has every right to make money. I blame the magazines for presenting her this way. This is not a good role model for teens. Bristol is not the typical unwed mother.
The other issue that I blame the magazines for is don’t they fact check stories? Bristol has told many lies in this story and others. This is her second child, she is not completely on her own at all and she lives with a young man now. Shame on Harpers. Don’t editors check more than spelling or grammar?
msfaye
Posted at 3:11 AM on May 27, 2010
she is getting paid and that is the only point. kids are gonna do what they wanna do no matter who tells them not to and to use this girl and her mother as the word of authority to stop teenage pregnancy please i know mccains head is spinning, remember when they called them walloosa (i think thats the city) hillbillies. most the of the girls who have babies out of wedlock as such end up on welfare not get a photoshoot.
Kristin
Posted at 10:25 PM on May 26, 2010
She is glamorizing it, but she isn’t the typical teenage mother either, her parents are pretty well off, and in the media. She’s taking (good) advantage of her opportunities, any teen in her situation would do that same. Nothing wrong with it.
...
Posted at 1:11 AM on May 27, 2010
But how many young girls will look at her life and think it turned out OK for her it will for me too??? Teenage pregnancy is not easy for anybody and it’s a big deal
xxo
Posted at 10:17 PM on May 26, 2010
she has sought out fame and attention for not being smart enough to use protection AND being dumb enough to hook up with a grade a **** despite all the ‘family values’ from her dingbat mother I just hope this example finally shows that learning about and using birth control is so much better than the preachy abstinence and ultimate ignorance model
Sugar
Posted at 7:57 PM on May 26, 2010
I agree with you fantasy world photos in fashion magazines is glamourizing her situation. However, it is the editors of the magazines that are glamourizing her. I don’t know why she is being featured in fashion magazines anyway. I can understand People featuring a story but why would a Harpers Bazaar reader pay money to read about or view photos of this young woman? What demographic are the editors targeting?
I know tons of people of all ages that watch MTVs 16 and Pregnant show. That gives a good dose of the REAL lives of young people facing teen pregnancy.
Christie
Posted at 10:33 AM on May 27, 2010
I agree. I don’t understand why Harper’s Bazaar would publish a spread of her, and I really do think that it’s stupid to put her in the spotlight. I don’t think there are many girls out there who can be fooled into thinking they would end up in the same lucky position as her, but I still don’t think it’s right for her and her situation with her baby to be glamorized. People deserve to know the truth about what happens when they make stupid mistakes and have children at too young of an age.