Frauds, Fakes, Or Fabulous
Oct 28, 2009 6:14 pm US/Eastern
Pregnant Covergirl Of Teen Vogue Raises Eyebrows
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A cover girl controversy is stirring up a teen magazine. Teen Vogue's bold move to feature a pregnant model on its cover is causing concern for some South Florida parents. The model, 19-year-old Jourdan Dunn, is not visibly pregnant on the cover, but revealed the fact to the magazine after the shoot. The magazine decided to run with it anyway.
The issue is drawing attention because it may draw the wrong kind of attention to teen pregnancy. Statistics show around 750,000 teenagers get pregnant every year and more than two thirds of those who do will have the baby and will not graduate high school.
"What values are we instilling in our children? That it is ok to be pregnant?" asked Gloria Villa, who is a mother of a teenage daughter. Villa was rattled when the magazine decided to keep Jourdan Dunn on the cover even after they learned she was pregnant. "They are like role models to all young girls and they would like to be like that."
The cover shows a pregnant Dunn alongside fellow model Chanel Iman. The South Florida mother said the problem wasn't so much that the teen was pregnant, but more that she was on the cover of a magazine targeting the same age group.
Vogue released the following statement:
Teen pregnancy is a difficult, real-life issue that Teen Vogue readers (with an average age of 18) are mature enough to be exposed to. Teen Vogue felt it was important to support, not punish, Jourdan Dunn.
"Pregnancy is wonderful, but it is wonderful in the context of an appropriate situation," said Dr. Ana Rivas-Vazquez of Citrus Health network in Hialeah. Rivas-Vazquez worries about the message. "I think that we should teach our children that people need to plan and people need to be responsible."
After a record high in the early 1990s, the teen birth rate in the U.S. dropped 34 percent from 1991 to 2005. But between 2005 and 2007, it increased 5 percent, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
A lack of family planning remains a problem even as women get older — 70 percent of pregnancies among 18 to 29-year-olds are unplanned, Albert said.
By Jourdan's own admission the pregnancy was unplanned, which may lead the way for a lesson for young South Florida women to get from their mothers.
"We can use it as an example. A beautiful young woman and this is what can happen, so that is why I try to instill values," Villa said. She is grateful she has an open line of communication with her daughter.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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