Come on, of course you remember Jamie Lynn Spears! She was on Nickelodeon’s shitty revamp of All That, and she also starred in Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101. Another claim to fame is her taxing role as Britney Spears‘ sister. Sadly, her extensive Teen Nick appearances and paparazzi fights ended when she got knocked up at 16, and we haven’t really heard all that much from her since.
UNTIL NOW! Jamie Lynn Spears just did an interview with Glamour, and I can’t help but love every single second of it. Please read through this, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself!
On getting pregnant: It was 2007. I had been on a Nickelodeon show, Zoey 101, and after we wrapped shooting, I just wanted to go home to Louisiana and finish high school, be a cheerleader, all that. Then I found out I was pregnant [by then- boyfriend Casey Aldridge]. I was 16. I’d had one boyfriend. It doesn’t make it perfect or all right. But I was judged for something that probably most everyone does. I was young. I was in love. I was like every other teenager, except I had this last name. And I made a decision that is forever my decision.
Why she didn’t use birth control: I believe in safety and birth control as prevention. But like many young girls…I was really scared to go to the doctor. And I was on a Nickelodeon show, and it [felt] especially embarrassing to ask someone to put me on birth control. I didn’t want to ask my doctor, because she had a little girl.
On the reaction from her fans: I did feel responsible for the young girls and the mothers who I probably confused and let down. I apologize for that. But I wasn’t trying to glamorize teen pregnancy. I hated when [the tabloids] said that. Everybody is dealt a hand of cards. It was my choice to play them the way I played them. But the hateful comments hurt.
On Teen Mom: When I saw MTV’s Teen Mom was coming out, I remember thinking, Oh my God, I cannot wait to see this show because there’s someone else out there. I mean, I feel for those girls. I’ve been that girl. It does show that motherhood is hard. There were so many times—especially when Maddie would get sick—when I would cry to myself and think, I really don’t know what to do. It takes bravery to be a young mom, and it does take bravery to let the world watch.
On Britney: She’s in such a good place right now. She’s in love. She has her kids. So I’m happy for her. Of course, [our bond as mothers], it’s such a big thing, you know? Especially ’cause there’s an age gap there—she’s 10 years older. I think if I were just a normal 20-year-old, I wouldn’t be able to relate as much to her.
On her music: I was a kid who did a kid show. Then I went away and raised my child, and the world has never met me as an adult. This is the first time anybody is really meeting me as a grown woman and grown mother making a decision about what to do with my life. Do people have an idea of who they think I am? Yes, and that’s fine with me. My music will speak for itself.
On this year: I’ll admit, I’m kind of scared; it’s a vulnerable place for me. But I think 21 will be the year for me. I hope it will be. Maybe even a boy—I don’t know. Six feet tall, blond, brown, tan…I don’t care. I’m excited for 21. Twenty-one is just going to be fearless.
There aren’t enough “ugh”s in the world to cover this. “I was like every other teenager,” no, Jamie, you weren’t. I know this for I was also a teenager, and I managed to escape those hellish years without getting pregnant. Shockingly enough, I also know several other ladies who did that exact same thing. It’s really not that hard, you just have to be careful, and if you choose to have sex, you should take precautions. I think if you’re mature enough to have the sex, you should be mature enough to ask your doctor for birth control, even if your doctor has a child herself*.
All that being said, are you excited at the prospect of this year being the year of Jamie Lynn Spears?
*Is this real logic?
Though I agree with you (I have NO patience for teen pregnancy when the person in question could easily get birth-control), I thought that a lot of what she said was really honest and relatable.
But not the part about liking “Teen Mom” or whatever. That stuff should never be on television. As far as entertainment is concerned, we should really pretend that no one makes what is usually a horrible decision. In Jamie Lynn’s case, she can afford to take care of a child. That is SO not the case with most girls who get pregnant at 16.
Agree 100%.
Also, watching Zoey 101 reruns is extra fun when you can make pregnancy jokes. Not that I’ve seen it since, like, 2009 or 2010. Sadly, the show was not really of the quality of, say, iCarly.
To be fair though, few things are of the quality of iCarly.
I emphatically agree.
“To be fair though, few things are of the quality of iCarly.”
I wish EB had a “like” button just for this.
I heard this yesterday on the radio and that was my exact reaction: “ugh, really?!” Your logic is spot on Emily. She was scared to tell her parents and her doctor but obviously wasn’t scared she would get an STI or get pregnant? For me and all my friends in high school and now I know fear of pregnancy>>>>>fear of the doctor.
P.S. Why would it matter if the doctor had a kid? I don’t get it.
I think what she was getting at with the “my doctor has a child” thing was that she was worried that the doctor would judge her adversely because the doctor’s child saw Jamie as a role model. Not that that should have mattered, but I see the logic, anyway.
She was afraid her doctor would JUDGE her for having sex and be upset since she had a young daughter who might have looked up to Jamie Lynn Spears? That’s how I understand it.
I LOVED Zoey 101. And I always felt like JL Spears was an honest and grounded person. I would be happy for this to be her year!
No, Emily, this time I don’t agree with you at all. You forget how religious her environment is. The Spears always talked about how big their faith was, and her sister Britney publicly said she would wait until marriage (whether she did or not, is a different matter). The point is, loads of teenagers have had the idea that sex is shameful, and that if they have sex they will never be a person worthy of anyone’s true and pure affection. Listen to Taylor Swift and her songs about how her friends gave the best they had (a.k.a their virginity) and therefore were unworthy and unlovable.
These kids start having sex because it’s only natural but they haven’t been taught how to cope, and many of them don’t even know what birth control forms are available. They just know it’s wrong and they try not to tell any adult, because it’s adults who’ve told them what they do is wrong. It’s not that black and white. You knew about birth control, and so did I, but it doesn’t mean loads of teenagers out there are kept in the dark about stuff like this and then get majorly fucked over.
Agree 100%
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She talked about how she was in love with her boyfriend and vilified for something that so many other people do. In that respect she WAS just like any other teen girl except she had the weight of this last name and her noteriety from her show. She was a scared young woman, sex for her could have been something that was in a way normal. It wasn’t something no one else her age that wasn’t famous did.