Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore the use of counselors, kinship relations, and the exemplification of heteronormativity on MTV’s docu-reality show, Teen Mom. I focus on how counseling and kinship ties create a juxtaposition of desirable motherhood and pathological parenting which is never resolved because of the show’s investment in heteronormativity.

Paper long abstract:

Traditionally, anthropologists have long been interested in emic perspectives that have resulted in cultural ethnography. Reality television shows have provided cultural artifacts that, although mediated, can provide rich evidence for observed cultural phenomenon. This paper explores how parenting, and more specifically, teenage motherhood is represented on MTV's docu-reality show Teen Mom.

An important part of parenting is having what is viewed as the "normal family." Variations of kinship outside of a heterosexual couple secured through marriage are oftentimes viewed as pathological and dangerous to children. In terms of discourse surrounding motherhood, the cult of true womanhood and domesticity historically relegated true women to caring for the home, with a focus on caring for their children and husband. Mothers who do not fulfill these roles are often blamed for their children's lack of well-being and are viewed as deviant.

In this paper, a critical analysis of Teen Mom explains how counseling experts, difficult relationships with the parents of these teen mothers, and heteronormative representations of motherhood as portrayed through these mothers struggle for "normal" family structures, creates both reassurance and anxiety for these teen moms. Here, I argue that the show's mediated or constructed representations create a sense of dependency for these young women when raising their children. While they may want to be independent and self-reliant for themselves and their children, they are constantly infantilized through their families and counselors, and are reminded that they do not and can never fit the heteronormative ideal.