That right there is a “sexy” tee on sale to prevent teen pregnancy.  A sexy tee on sale by the Candie’s Foundation. A sexy tee on sale by a foundation dedicated to preventing teen pregnancy.  I’m no Ad. Exec., but isn’t this a little bit like selling donuts to prevent obesity, or selling AK 47′s to prevent gun violence, or selling bong’s to prevent drug use?  I suppose it is meant for teenagers to get the irony of the Ad.  Most teens I know can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, yet “sexy” tee is supposed to prevent them from having sexy time in the back of their daddies Hybrid?  Uh,  no.  Even if the message is meant to be helpful, I for one would not want my daughter walking around in a tight “wife-beater” advertising herself as a big tease.  If a teenage boy wore this same sexy tee, my guess is he would spend a lot of time studying the inside of his locker at school.

I actually came about this advertising because of a story about Bristol Palin that has appeared all over the media outlets.  She is serving as a spokesperson for the Candie’s foundation in preventing teen pregnancy. Unlike many other pundits and bloggers, I refuse to bash Bristol Palin for this.  I think she should be admired for turning her bad judgment to something positive.  She can talk from real life experience of how hard it is to be a teenage, single mom. I would imagine other teenagers would be able to relate to her experience.

What makes me uneasy about the Candie’s Foundation and Bristol Palin as spokesperson, is the focus on abstinence only pregnancy prevention.  Even Bristol herself in an interview on Fox news, stated that abstinence only education was “unrealistic”.  I certainly would like my own daughters to wait till they’re, I don’t know, thirty before they have sex.  My husband is Googling “chastity belts” as I write. Yet, I live in the real world, and this may just be naive.  There is certainly room for abstinence teaching, along side contraception teaching.  In the heat of the moment, teenagers need a back-up plan besides mommy’s voice telling them to wait until marriage.  Studies have shown that abstinence only education does not lead to teenagers having less sex.  Contraception teaching needs to be included to prevent conception.

I think I’ll wear my “I’m sexy enough to keep you waiting” tee while my husband is packing up the car  for the family visit to his parents house.

RR