Bristol Wants you to know…
That she’s pregnant, again. She wants you to know that, in spite of her abstinence advocacy, she is pregnant with her second child. She wants you to know this, and furthermore, she wants you to know that she’s not happy about it.
I wanted you guys to be the first to know that I am pregnant.
Honestly, I’ve been trying my hardest to keep my chin up on this one.
At the end of the day there’s nothing I can’t do with God by my side, and I know I am fully capable of handling anything that is put in front of me with dignity and grace.
Life moves on no matter what. So no matter how you feel, you get up, get dressed, show up, and never give up.
When life gets tough, there is no other option but to get tougher.
I know this has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family, to my close friends, and to many of you.
But please respect Tripp’s and my privacy during this time. I do not want any lectures and I do not want any sympathy.
My little family always has, and always will come first.
Tripp, this new baby, and I will all be fine, because God is merciful.
This was her pregnancy announcement posted earlier today, and in all seriousness, I could care less about this news. We all know that Bristol is a massive hypocrite, who flies the flag of abstinence and sex within the context of marriage, only to have conceived not one, but two children out of wedlock. But I think her story is a perfect example of what I will call “pregnancy shaming,” an off-shoot of slut shaming, that puts down women for their pregnancy if said pregnancy is not within the context of marriage.
The first thing to notice about this announcement is how Palin treats pregnancy as a burden rather than a blessing because she is a single, unwed mother. There are so many women on this planet that want to get pregnant and have children, but through any number of circumstances, cannot. Seeing Bristol Palin show such heartbreak for getting pregnant is such an insult to the women in the world that would give anything to be in her shoes.
Where does her burden come from? Palin is already a mother. Surly the joys of what she experienced with her first child have to be rekindled at the thought of another live growing inside her. Why is this second pregnancy not a blessing? One word. Belief. Belief that what she has growing inside her is the product of sin. Belief that the act of sexual intercourse outside of the sanctity of marriage is wrong. It is this belief that makes Palin ashamed of her pregnancy. There’s nothing wrong this belief at face value, however, life isn’t lived at face value, it’s lived in the grey. Let’s all admit right here and right now that sex is an essential part of life with or without organized religion, and it’s awesome plain and simple. So many people want to focus on sex being a negative. But let’s be completely honest, whatever the context, safe, consensual sex is always a good experience. Even when it’s bad, sex is still sex. The most embarrassing of sexual experiences can still be a badge of honor, even if you don’t wear that badge on your sex sash.
So, what’s the big deal Bristol? Yeah, you had sex out of marriage even though you don’t believe that to be okay. Sure you’re an abstinence advocate, even though we all know you like the “D” as much as any other human being. Why go out of your way to write this little pregnancy announcement? Because, you don’t want us to know that you know these things. But why? Because God, that’s why. God is the reason Bristol Palin doesn’t want us to know she likes sex. Better still, it’s more about the people that believe in God than God Himself. They are the ones with the vengful judgment. They are the ones with the Twitter and Facebook pages that will endlessly mock her as sinful and wrong. She doesn’t want their judgment and I don’t blame her.
If Palin really believed that God is merciful, she wouldn’t go out of her way to announce her pregnancy in such a burdensome way. She would know she is forgiven and she would know that what she has is a blessing. Sure she lied. Sure she is a hypocrite. But of course, nobody’s perfect. Everybody lies. Everybody has been hypocritical from time to time.
Again, there isn’t really a big deal. The stakes are not that high. A girl got pregnant. So what’s the problem?
Honestly, there isn’t one. It’s silly that this is news, with all the terrible, horrible things that have happened just in the last week, the fact that we are even talking about this is absurd. But in a world that puts down women for enjoying their sexuality and shames them for being sexually active, the bigger issues of sexuality is now at the forefront. We need to get over the idea that sex should be on a pedestal and we should gaze up at it like a musuem statue. In the grand scheme of things, sex, like all other things in this world, is all about context.
It’s a sad world we live in where a pregnant young woman has to announce to the world that she is sorry for being pregnant. I am in no way defending Bristol Palin. But I am saying that Palin should not have to be ashamed of being pregnant. Pregnancy should be celebrated. And pregnant women should not have to apologize for being pregnant. We all know where babies come from. We all know what has to happen for a kid to be conceived, and it’s time to grow up, folks.
