GLEE!
"Glee" is a television show on the FOX network about a high school Glee club and their struggles. Seely makes the point that television, although "a powerful influence on our idea of reality" (Seely 102), is rarely accurate or a proper example of reality in terms of ethnicity, sexuality, and body type. "Glee", however, does a fine job of showcasing different races, sexual preferences, and body types on this Golden Globe winning show. Particularly on the topic of motherhood, "Glee" boldly displays non-traditional types of pregnancies and parenting situations that are rarely talked about in society, let alone shown on television.
Early on in the season, we discover that Finn's girlfriend Quinn is pregnant. In the episode "Throwdown," Quinn's fears and confusions about her pregnancy are shown more intensely. During a doctor visit, the two teenage parents-to-be are asked if they have given any thought to what will happen after the baby is born. As mentioned in "The Mommy Tax," a child can end up costing a couple "easily greater than $1 million..." (Crittenden 338) in lost earning wages alone. For an unwed teenage couple with no income, this is an unimaginable amount of money especially since Quinn can fear never fulfilling her professional goals due to her child. Since "[t]he pay gap between mothers and nonmothers...is now larger than the wage gap between young men and women," (Crittenden 338) there is a good chance that even if Quinn chooses to work after high school, if she keeps the baby she may never earn as much money as her childless co-workers. The topic of teenage pregnancy is rarely addressed in society as much as it should be and is almost never a topic on main stream television. By making such a controversial storyline, the show opens up discussion on many social issues concerning teen pregnancy.
Another rarely discussed issue brought up in this specific episode of "Glee" is the idea of father's rights. Although it is said that "in a patriarchal system that looks to ownership, property, and dominance of men over women as its basis, marriage long has been the focus of radical feminist revulsion," (Ettelbrick 317) Will and Terri Schuester's marriage seems to be the opposite of this. Terri is faking her pregnancy in the hopes of keeping her husband happy enough to stay with her. Will is shown to be a very nurturing and loving husband to Terri even though she is spoiled and selfish. Through of the course of her fake pregnancy, Terri is distant from Will which causes him to feel disconnected from his unborn child. He finally makes a point to demand that Terri take him to her next ultrasound appointment in order to involve him in the process that he has been so excluded from. Like Will, Finn feels powerless in his pregnancy situation. He makes the point that he experiences "all the stress and worry and none of the control" (Falchuk) when he refers to the fact that he has no say in Quinn's decision to give the baby up for adoption or to keep it. Quinn also blatantly states that Finn should not have an opinion on the subject even though it is (supposedly) his child.
All of these issues bring up many questions and concerns about how mothers and parenthood is perceived by society. The example of Qunn's pregnancy displays the fears and extreme measures that some teenagers go through in the attempts to conceal their pregnancy from their parents. Terri's fake pregnancy shows the very extreme measures some women may go through in the attempts to save their dying marriage because of their fears of being alone. And the examples of father's rights that are brought up in concern with Finn and Will give a broader look at different types of caregivers that exist in society.
Works Cited:
Crittenden, Ann. "The Mommy Tax." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. (2001): 337-345. Print.
Ettelbrick, Paula. "Since When Is Marriage a Path to Liberation?." Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. (1989): 317-320. Print.
Falchuk, Brad. "Throwdown." Glee. FOX. 14 Oct. 2009. CastTV. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. .
Seely, Megan. Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Print.
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