The following is a blog post I wrote for class.
Baby, Be More Organized
Reality TV shows about motherhood are scary, but they’re not nearly as frightening as poorly organized essays. That’s my impression after reading Alessandra Stanley’s article “… And Baby Makes Reality TV.” She promises an analysis of motherhood through the reality TV lens (think 16 and Pregnant) and instead delivers a choppy summary of programming related to childbirth.
Initially, Stanley argues that the abundance of shows portraying the downsides of motherhood reflect a societal anxiety toward motherhood. Instead of romanticizing childbearing like entertainment news outlets (ahem, US Weekly), she claims true-life series like Teen Mom 2 and I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant illustrate the potential “dark side of giving birth.” Ok, makes sense.
Then, halfway through, Stanley loses herself. By trying to tackle too many aspects of childbearing, her essay becomes muddled. Suddenly, Stanley shifts her focus to society’s fear of women cheating nature. Here, she lumps together teen pregnancy and in vitro fertilization. Each could warrant its own essay.
Her last paragraph, which discusses delivering a baby in unstable situations, is disconnected from both angles. Pregnant and In Peril and Born on a Bad Day have no larger meaning for society. Except that it sucks to give birth when your life is in danger.
No matter how many puns she supplies or how colorful her vocabulary is, Stanley can’t compensate for a lack of organization. If she hadn’t diverged from her original thesis, her insights wouldn’t be so shallow. If only she had fleshed out her argument. Starting with why these shows are so prominent right now and ending with the media effects of viewing shows with negative treatments of pregnancy would have made her essay more powerful. Thoughtful organization goes a long way in directing good writing.
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