Not Our Kind of Girl - Unravelling the Myths of Black Teenage Motherhood (Paperback, New)

For the African-American community the image of the teenage mother is especially troublesome: all the problems of the welfare systsem seem to spotlight the black teenage mom. This text dispels common percetions of these young women. The author's interviews with the women themselves, and with their mothers and grandmothers, provide a picture of their lives caught in the intersection of race, class and gender. Kaplan challenges the assumption conveyed in the popular media that the African-American community condones teen pregnancy, single parenting, and reliance on welfare. Especially telling are the feelings of frustration, anger and disappointment expressed by the mothers and grandmothers interviewed. And in listening to teenage mothers discuss their problems, Kaplan hears first hand of their relationships with men, and their difficulties with the education system - all factors bear heavily on their status as young parents. Kaplan's own personal experience as an African-American teenage mother adds a personal dimesion to this book, and she offers proposals for rethinking and assessing the class factors, gender relations, and racism that influence black teenagers to become mothers.