In response to an article posted on Bitch Magazine’s website ( Trippin' Out: Bristol Palin's less-than-successful campaigning), Bristol Palin is the teenager (gasp!) and single (gasp!) mother AND daughter of conservative Sarah Palin. Not only has her family completely exploited her situation as a single, teen mother but also there does not seem to be any support for her now. She is a mother and who knows what type of judgment she has received from getting pregnant as a teenager or the support that came or lacked from any type of choice she may have wanted.

Bristol is now the face of a prevent teen pregnancy campaign. While she is a teen mother. While she made the choice to have her child as a teenager. She has her child with her while she does interviews about preventing teen pregnancy. How much more exploitation can one give to her? The news media is grabbing at it and obviously her family is. The organization seems to LOVE her because now they can focus on how she is a teen mother, she is well known because of her mother and Bristol can talk about how ‘hard’ it is.

I think it is completely ridiculous that all these people are using Bristol Palin in this regard. First of all, YES it is HARD to be a teen parent (I got pregnant at age 18 in high school, my senior year). But I cannot imagine being thrown into the media to be an advocate against teen pregnancy while being a teen parent.

Parenting CAN be hard for people of ALL ages. Would I suggest anyone becoming a parent? I do not have that right to suggest things like that to anyone -- that is THEIR decision. However, I am not always going to discount someone's age and assume that teen pregnancy is necessarily an awful thing.

I am grateful I am a teen mother, a single mother. This has sculpted me into who I am today. I have learned a lot and it has given me direction. Having a child at a young age gave me a lot more grasp on the real world, on reality. I cannot imagine NOT being a mother of a 7.5 year old. So why not focus on how teen mothers (and fathers) CAN kick ass instead of completely exploiting their situations all the time like these people are doing towards Bristol? Always focusing on the negative. There is so much discussion on preventing teen pregnancy. There is no talk about the resources, support and the help teen parents can get. Or hearing from teen and former-teen parents about how, maybe it DID save their lives and maybe it DID NOT end it like so many think it does.

Calling teen parenting a "pandemic" and comparing it to a health disease is not comparable at all. These are completely different situations. Having a baby is NOT comparable to a disease. How come no other parenting situation is comparable to a pandemic? As I said I cannot imagine NOT having a child - she has completely sculpted me into being a radical feminist and practicing feminist mothering for child rearing has been a wonderful experience. What would then be the "appropriate" age for having a child? I think it is a personal thing. Some teen parents take complete and better responsibility comparable to a married, nuclear family. Some don't, just as any aged-parent. All kinds of families can be amazing families. I am also a single mother and my daughter is in advanced reading programs at her school and she already has a grasp on feminism, gender roles, racism and white privilege. I have done this all this while going to school full-time, working, volunteering, building community and doing research. And many other teen mothers I know have done a lot of what I mentioned.

If feminists (or anyone!) are going to talk about preventing teen pregnancy, then why do we talk about support? Or not judging others? Or community? How completely exploitive is it to discuss how these teen parents (especially the mothers) have fucked up their lives now? How do we know? Instead of victim-blaming people in this situation or people that may be in this situation, why not offer our support? Let them know they are supported and there are resources out there that CAN help? Not saying it is easy (because it is not) but it also not the end of the world. I have still done amazing things as a single, former teen mother. I am still able to discover who I am, still able to BE who I am.

As a feminist and a mother, I want to support others in my situation. Single parents, teen parents: it is hard work but it is also doable. There are people out there that do support and there are resources available. Bristol Palin needs support and community, not judgment because she had sex and because she is a teen mother. It certainly is a life-changing situation, but it is for anyone. I am more lived and mature than I was when I was 18, but I also feel this is a part of being a mother. Who knows where I would be if I did not become pregnant in high school? Sometimes I would not want to know, my daughter saved my life.

Heather Jackson is part-bike, a sex positive, radical feminist, and single mom of an almost 8-year-old. Her and her kid bike everywhere. She is a Sociology and Feminist Studies major student in the Midwest of the USA. D.I.Y., breastfeeding and vegan are the ways to go, besides by bicycle. Fuck shaving and take the word 'man' outta womyn/wimmin. Sometimes she stays up until 6am. All she needs in her life is her bike, books, zines, music, raw vegan food, coffee and stuff to write on and with. She is also a former Producer of Girl-Mom.