By hkbardo
It is currently summer vacation in Brazil, so of course, school is not in session and while everyone is out enjoying the beach and outdoor concerts, I am stuck suffering the cold in Massachusetts! But alas I will be back in Salvador in a matter of days, and finally on to Rio a few weeks after that. In the meantime, in preparation for my volunteer work with Meninas Mães, I have been reading articles to gain insight into the issue of teen pregnancies in Brazil’s favelas. I felt particularly inspired to write about João Eduardo Coin de Carvalho’s article “How can a child be a mother? Discourse on teenage pregnancy in a Brazilian favela”, which introduces a fascinating perspective on the causes and social repercussions of teen pregnancies, from the point of view of adolescents living in São Paulo’s favelas.
In the beginning the author’s findings were consistent with a common tendency to blame teenage pregnancy on uncontrolled desires. This widely held opinion reflects the Catholic Church’s continued dominance in discussions about sex and sexuality in Brazil. It also promotes the elitist theory that “presents young people and poor people as unprepared to make the right choices and to plan their lives rationally because, according to them, those young people are moved by an embodied desire” (p. 116). Given the church’s authority in Brazil, I was surprised when the research revealed that among this particular community, contraception was actually readily available, but that it was just rarely sought. I am not sure whether this is encouraging or disappointing news for me. It means that unfortunately, distributing contraception throughout favelas is not the simple solution to unplanned pregnancies as it has proved to be in many other parts of the world. However, at least the contraception is available- a big hurdle that is no longer in the way; now the goal would be to tackle the population’s indifference and the societal stigma against contraception. (I have no idea if the situation described in the article is similar to the favela I will be volunteering in in Rio de Janeiro, but it certainly has me curious! Will the young mothers I meet have been exposed to contraception options and consciously chosen to ignore them? This is not a reality I had previously anticipated; on the contrary, I assumed that part of my work might be dedicated to providing contraception and education about it.)
The bulk of the article presented even more surprising and intriguing inferences. In Western culture teenage pregnancy is typically scorned upon, deemed as the result of irresponsibility, and considered damaging to an adolescent’s potential for success in school, a career, and in life. However, during interviews in São Paulo’s favelas, participants (both female and male) expressed adolescent maternity as a means of increasing one’s social status, as creating a special identity for a girl and giving her a sense of purpose. In contrast to Western opinion, in this society, “maternity is seen as a cure for uncertainty and solitude” (p. 117). Pregnancy enhances not only a girl’s literal visibility, but according to Coin de Carvalho, “Having a child is an important aspect in ‘being somebody’ inside their communities, increasing the visibility of these young people’s identities” (p. 118). In the previous paragraph I referred to unplanned adolescent pregnancies as a problem that needs a solution-- clearly I made this judgement based on my Western beliefs. However, the collective opinion within the São Paulo favela is that, whether the pregnancies are planned or unplanned, teenage maternity is not a problem, but rather the answer to variety of other social issues that these young girls and their communities face.
This viewpoint is entirely new and quite foreign to me, and therefore all the more essential that I read this article before commencing my work at Meninas Mães. As I stated earlier, I do not know if the article is representative also of the culture within the Rio de Janeiro favela I will be working in. Who knows, maybe I will learn of attitudes even more foreign to me than the last! But that is the beauty of living, studying, and volunteering abroad, with a very open mind. Often the problem with organizations receiving international volunteers is that the well-intentioned visitors fail to understand the core issues from the local perspective, and instead attempt to impose their Western values, sometimes causing harm rather than helping. I seek to evade this endemic problem by valuing the educational significance of my volunteer experience before it even begins. Not only is this an opportunity for me to be benevolent and have an impact on the lives of the women I meet, it is also an opportunity for me to grow and learn as well. Thus, as I am counting down the days till my journey, I am stacking up on my reading material and volunteer resources! Stay tuned...
Article Citation:
João Eduardo Coin de Carvalho (2007): How can a child be a mother? Discourse on teenage pregnancy in a Brazilian favela , Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, 9:2, 109-120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13691050600994448