Portrayal of Teenage Pregnancy in Hollywood Movies: Precious, the Pregnancy Project and Juno Asaah Bih Crystel Submitted to the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Media Studies Eastern Mediterranean University February 2016 Gazimağusa, North Cyprus Approval of the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Prof. Dr Cem Tanova Acting Director I certify that this thesis satisfies the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Media Studies Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ümit İnatçı Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies We certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication and Media Studies. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahire Efe Özad Supervisor Examining Committee 1. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl Kemal Kaya 2. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahire Efe Özad 3. Asst. Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Türksoy ii ABSTRACT The visibility of teenage pregnancy has become a call for concern though it’s not a new issue. Many more young girls are getting pregnant and the reaction to the phenomenon is gradually changing and the girls getting more support and encouragement to move on with their lives from family, friends and outsiders thereby killing stereotypes and exposing challenges. The main aim of this research is to look at the portrayals of teenage pregnancy in Hollywood movies from 2007- 2015 with objectives to find out the challenges before, during and after pregnancy. Three movies (Juno, Precious and the Pregnancy Project) selected from 15 other Hollywood movies on teenage pregnancy will be the focus of the study. A feminist media approach is used for this study to explain reasons why some pregnant teens face problems which include patriarchy, oppression, choices, stereotypes and inequality. Textual analysis was used to collect primary data to understand the content and better explain the messages contained in the three movies (Juno, Precious and the Pregnancy Project) used for the research. Secondary data was collected from books, e-books, online journals and magazines and newspapers to find previous literature related to the topic and to support findings found in the movies used for the study. Stereotypes, patriarchy, oppression and choices are discovered to be issues that serve as both problems and solutions in all three movies (Juno, Precious and the Pregnancy Project).Precious, Juno and Gaby all face various stereotypes and only Juno of all iii three girls freely makes her choices on her life and her baby easily with family support. Gaby (the Pregnancy Project) and Precious (Precious) live in patriarchal societies where they are oppressed and can hardly make decisions. Challenges that run across the movies include regret, frustration, emotions, labor pains, immaturity, stereotypes, disappointment and lack of confidence among others. These findings will help in better understanding of portrayals of teenage pregnancy in movies and the challenges faced by young pregnant teenagers, before, during and after pregnancy. It will also help to find out the importance and consequences of the content of these movies on its audience and the impact it has on their lives. Keywords: Teenage Pregnancy, challenges, portray, feminist ideologies, stereotypes, Hollywood movies iv ÖZ Genç Hamileliğin, her ne kadar yeni bir konu olmasa da, görünürlülüğü endişe verici bir konu hal,ine gelmiştir. Birçok genç kız hamile kalmakta ve bu duruma tepkiler gün geçtikçe değişmekte ve kızlar aile, arkadaş ve dış çevreden yaşamlarına bu şekilde devam etmek, basmakalıpları yıkmak ve maruz kaldıkları zorlukları ortadan kaldırmak adına daha fazla destek ve cesaret göstermektedirler. Bu araştırmanın başat amacı 2007-2015 dönemindeki Hollywood filmlerindeki genç hamile temsillerine bakıp hamilelik öncesi, süresince ve sonrasında karşılaşılan zorlukları tespit etmektir.Genç hamileliği konu alan 15 Hollywood filmi arasından seçilen üç film, (Juno, Precious, ve The Pregnancy Project)çalışmanın odak noktası olacaktır. Neden hamile gençlerin içinde ataerkilik, baskı, tercihler, basmakalıplar ve eşitsizlik gibi sorunlarla karşılaştıkları bu çalışmada feminist medya çalışmaları yaklaşımında incelenecektir. Juno, Precious ve The Pregnancy Project filmlerindeki içeriği daha iyi anlamak ve üç filmin içerdiği mesajları daha iyi açıklayabilmek için birincil derecede veri toplamada metin analizi kullanılmıştır.İkinci veriler kitaplardan, e-kitaplardan, önceki literatürü taramak, ilgili konulara ulaşıp çalışmanın bulgularını desteklemekte çevrimiçi dergilerden, dergilerden ve gazetelerden kullanılmıştır. Basmakalıp, ataerkillik, baskı ve seçeneklerin her üç film (Juno, Precious, The Pregnancy Project) ile ilgili hem sorun hem de çözüm olarak işlenen konular oldukları ortaya çıkmıştır. Precious, Juno ve Gaby, üçü de farklı basmakalıpla karşılaşmakta, üç kızdan sadece Juno aile desteğiyle kendi yaşamı ve bebeğiyle ilgili v seçimleri özgürce yapmaktadır. Gaby (The Pregnancy Project’deki) ve Precious (Precious’daki) baskı altındakilerin karar vermekte zorlandıkları ataerkil toplumlarda yaşamaktadırlar. Her üç filmde de ortak olan meydan okuma, aralarında başka diğerlerininde olduğu hüsran, duygular, doğum sancıları, toyluk, basmakalıplık, hayal kırıklığı ve güven yoksunluğudur. Bu bulgular filmlerdeki genç hamileliğin tanımlamasına ve genç hamile kızların hamilelik öncesinde, süresince ve sonrasında ne yaşadıklarını anlamaya yardımcı olacaktır. İleriki araştırmada, film içeriklerinin izleyici üzerindeki önem ve sonuçlarını ve yaşmlarındaki etkilerini bulmaya yardım edecektir. Anahtar kelimeler: Genç hamilelik, meydan okuma, feminist ideoloji, basmakalıp, Hollywood filmleri vi DEDICATION To my lovely family and daughter Asaah Gloria Formbason who have been my inspiration throughout my studies. This work would not have been successful without you all. I forever remain grateful. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Foremost, I will like to appreciate my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahire Efe Özad for her patience and her guidance throughout my school year especially when writing my thesis. I am gratefully for you always believed in me and encouraged me to be the best. I wouldn’t have wanted a better supervisor. Besides my supervisor, I also want to thank my lecturers Süleyman İrvan, Nurten Kara, Agah Gümüş, Ülfet Kutoğlu Kuruç and Hanife Aliefendioğlu for their encouragement, hard questions and assistance with my studies at Eastern Mediterranean University. Big thanks to my jury members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl Kemal Kaya and Assist. Prof. Dr. Nilüfer Türksoy for taking out time from their busy schedules to read, make suggestions and correct my study. My sincere gratitude goes to all the new friends Elega Adeola , Adamu Mohammed, Racheal, Kenneth, Desmond, Onifade, Olabola, Edmund, Esther and my other friends Serratu, Billiet, Chantal, Patou, Zita, Ernest, Carl, Sylvanus, . In particular I am grateful to my special friend Ahmed Zackaria Abdul- Wahid. You all have really being an inspiration to me during my studies at this institution. Thanks for all the help. To my exceptional family the Asaah’s Family my mom, Tashi Mangoh Rose and my dad Asaah Boniface Fru for the sacrifices, love and guidance they have given me since my birth. To my siblings Alex, Armstrong, Brenda, Daniel and Collins and most especially my daughter Asaah Gloria for their unending love and support. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................ ……………………………………………………iii ÖZ ................................................................................................................................ v DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... xiv 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background of the Study .................................................................................... 1 1.2 Motivation for the Study .................................................................................... 8 1.3 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................. 10 1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study ..................................................................... 11 1.5 Research Questions .......................................................................................... 11 1.6 Assumptions ..................................................................................................... 11 1.7 Significance of the Study ................................................................................. 13 1.8 Limitations of Study ........................................................................................ 14 1.9 Operational Definitions .................................................................................... 15 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................