If I can make one critique about the movie Juno, I would have to say that it offers a somewhat distorted account of what single motherhood entails. While I appreciate that Juno’s character pushes the boundaries of traditional femininity, I am troubled by her calm, sarcastic, and, dare I say, masculine attitude when it comes to negotiating her pregnancy. I feel as though Junos disposition as a socially awkward yet endearing teen valorizes traditional aspects of masculinity, while simultaneously rejecting the arguably terrifying and stressful reality of teen pregnancy. Moreover, Juno was offered an abundance of support throughout her pregnancy, and this, I feel, completely ignores the many barriers women dealing with unwanted pregnancies must face when attempting to secure support.
Despite my own critical analysis of the film, many feminist scholars have also made strong arguments about this films tendency to undermine women’s rights. Similar to my reading of the film, Hoerl explores the ways in which this film this film inadequately represents instances of teen pregnancy. Hoerl unpacks the word ‘choice’ and notes that for many teenagers dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, choice is often grounded in the opinions and pressures of others. Furthermore, Thoma suggests that by implicitly putting forward the idea that ‘choice’ exists, Juno depoliticizes the topic of abortion. To elaborate, it would be to say that if ‘choice’ existed, there would no longer be reason for debate on the topic of abortion, which is highly problematic.
Works Cited:
Thoma article:
http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/full/10.1080/14680770903233001#.VCs5GuktDIU
Hoerl article:
http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/full/10.1080/14791420.2010.523432#.VCsqBuktDIU
Hi Allison, I really enjoyed reading your blog and great job with the citations! I agree with your analysis, I feel as if the movie was too cheerful with this scary situation, almost cheering teen pregnancy on, Don’t you think movies like this have made shows about teen pregnancy on networks like MTV and what not popular? I think so.
The idea of choice may sometimes not be so easy to have being the teen, most parents I think would take control the minute they hear their daughter has become pregnant. What I’m really curious about is how the parents of the boy would react and assess the situation.
Hi Allison,
I agree that if ‘choice’ existed, it would not still be a political debate. I get so easily annoyed how many people care about what women do with their bodies, but it really shouldn’t be surprising. Abortion is just something that has been monitored by men and has only recently been given to women as a ‘choice’. I think Juno is a perfect example of this. She clearly has the ‘choice’ buy social pressures prove that she can’t go through with an abortion without more consequence than if she were to adopt.
Thank you, Allison, for this well-argued post and articulation of the problems of the word “choice.” I’d be curious to hear more about this intriguing idea you raise: “While I appreciate that Juno’s character pushes the boundaries of traditional femininity, I am troubled by her calm, sarcastic, and, dare I say, masculine attitude when it comes to negotiating her pregnancy.” You offer a fascinating analysis here—and more close reading of specific scenes from the movie would strengthen the analysis even more.