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A review by liralen
Hope, Grace, & Faith by Leah Messer
2.0
No real surprises here—not a stunner as far as writing goes, but enough honesty and introspection to keep things interesting. I still haven't seen any of 16 and Pregnant or Teen Mom, so I don't have any context for Messer outside of the book, but it's nice to see less mud-slinging of exes than in some related books I've read.
But mostly I just find this to be a really good illustration of cycles of poverty and teen pregnancy. Messer's pregnancy as a teenager isn't all that surprising when you consider the context: being the child of a teenage mother to begin with, not having any sex ed, not having any emphasis placed on education, a community that was very tolerant (even encouraging) of young girls dating with much older boys... Quite separate from a person's individual decisions and so on, it's hard to break a cycle when you've had no other consistent model.
It also strengthens my suspicion that shows like Teen Mom can be simultaneously beneficial and toxic for the people taking part—a valuable source of income for young mothers who can be quite financially vulnerable, and something that might give them a chance at a career quite different from the ones they'd expected, but also a source of extra drama (the show might not be manufacturing drama outright, but it's definitely stirring the pot) and something that opens the participants (who are, again, often in vulnerable positions) up to the opinions and criticism of the masses in ways that they are unlikely to be prepared for.
But mostly I just find this to be a really good illustration of cycles of poverty and teen pregnancy. Messer's pregnancy as a teenager isn't all that surprising when you consider the context: being the child of a teenage mother to begin with, not having any sex ed, not having any emphasis placed on education, a community that was very tolerant (even encouraging) of young girls dating with much older boys... Quite separate from a person's individual decisions and so on, it's hard to break a cycle when you've had no other consistent model.
It also strengthens my suspicion that shows like Teen Mom can be simultaneously beneficial and toxic for the people taking part—a valuable source of income for young mothers who can be quite financially vulnerable, and something that might give them a chance at a career quite different from the ones they'd expected, but also a source of extra drama (the show might not be manufacturing drama outright, but it's definitely stirring the pot) and something that opens the participants (who are, again, often in vulnerable positions) up to the opinions and criticism of the masses in ways that they are unlikely to be prepared for.