It was just a little while ago that Kylie was a little bright eye little girl. Like less than a half decade ago. She was dating little Jaden Smith for goodness sake.
There is anteresting piece in Teen Vogue how young mothers who are not Kylie Jenner are stigmatized and blame for the downfall of their entire community, yet rich privileged moms get a pass. Well, I think there can be an emphasis of “rich” because I think the teen moms of MTV’s Teen Mom are judged pretty harshly as well but I get what the author is getting at. Because while MTV tried to avoid stigmatizing the usual suspects by mainly casting white teen moms, they ended up making those moms famous— so in essence, they were rewarded for being a teen mom. The Catch 22 of it all!
Anyway, Lara Writ writes:
Kylie’s privilege of privacy also helped her shy away from a lot of the stigma and shame projected onto poor women and black and brown mothers. Her whiteness and wealth means she won’t receive the same level of criticisms or judgements — not that she should, no one should ever be shamed for their pregnancy. However, it is important to note that because of our capitalist and racist society, as well as the U.S.’s history of chattel slavery, black mothers are subjected to pregnancy shaming and scrutiny, especially if they are unwed. Because of anti-black racism and misogyny (misogynoir), black mothers are blamed for the deterioration of patriarchal and traditional family structures, the social-ills which impact black communities and the sexist double standards of promiscuity. Black feminists have long described how the racist roots of American history gave birth to these stereotypes of black mothers, and how politicians like President Ronald Reagan used racist tropes to cut funding to social welfare programs.
When we discuss Kylie’s pregnancy and the birth of her baby, it’s also important to stray from shaming her for being a young mother while also taking into account her privilege. There are many things we should be changing in this country, from access to proper reproductive healthcare to better sex-ed to the dismantling of racism within all spectrum of society. Kylie deserved to have her baby without any stress-related complications, but so do all parents.
Interesting. Read the entire piece here!