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There’s a lot of fuss and TV coverage (Today Show, GMA) about Bristol Palin… she’s the new teen ambassador for the
Candie’s Foundation, an organization dedicated to preventing teen
pregnancy through abstinence. Bristol is the 18-year-old daughter of
Governor Sarah Palin. And surprise… most of the fuss is about Bristol
contradicting herself (Katie Couric was nowhere close to this one).
As the Candie’s ambassador, she is promoting abstinence. But in an
earlier Fox
interview (before she was Candie’s ambassador), she said abstinence is
“unrealistic.” OK, maybe it’s genetic. Or maybe she’s just a teen -
they contradict themselves constantly.
What bothers me is bigger than another Palin contradicting herself
in interviews. What troubles me is the message she’s sending to young
girls. First of all, she’s saying she believes in abstinence and safe
sex, but she’s holding her baby boy, Tripp, in her lap… so she’s really
saying, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.” That never works with
tween-teen girls. They want you to walk the talk. Sure, it’s OK to
say, “I made a mistake and I don’t want you to make one because your
life could turn out hard like mine.” But Bristol’s life isn’t looking
so hard - in fact, it’s looking pretty darn glamorous… she’s on TV!
Tween-teen girls would love to be on TV. She’s sitting on the sofa on
the Today Show with her dad (that was a little too Miley and Billy Ray
Cyrus for me) and her baby, Tripp… loving him and showing the joys of
motherhood. It’s great that she loves her baby… the problem is that
young girls see this and think “baby, unconditional love, dad by my
side…”
I think Candie’s should find a celebrity role model who tween girls
will look up to… a role model who practices abstinence who can talk
about how cool it is. Or maybe the problem is they can’t find one? So
maybe Bristol was right when she said abstinence is “unrealistic.”
