Spider-Man vs. Teen Pregnancy (Patreon)

A reporter reached out asking Oh Joy Sex Toy for its input on how the ideas and messaging about sex education in this Planned Parenthood-commissioned Spider-Man comic on teen pregnancy from 1976 may have changed compared to today's approach to these topics. I wrote the following in reply and if any of it makes it into the article I'll hook you up with a link when it goes live!

7/1/22 EDIT: Aaaaand here it is! When Spider-Man Teamed Up With Planned Parenthood to Stop a Forced Pregnancy Alien by Asher Elbein

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The enthusiasm and urgency of this comic on the subject of teen pregnancy is spot-on, and I appreciate how it uses humor and conversational language to engage the audience. It addresses some common misconceptions (like how old you have to be to get pregnant or how frequently you need to have sex) and reminds people that STIs ("VD") are still a factor to keep in mind when having unprotected sex. The part of the comic that is actually most helpful and educational (mostly, with some caveats. The entry on "Homosexuality", uh, left something to be desired.) is that end page that's just a text list, as well as  the follow-up page that encourages teens to ask questions about sex even if it's uncomfortable or awkward for them. 

These are (almost) all good, positive messages to be sharing! I wish more of the comic pages could have been dedicated to communicating these messages and incorporating them into the storyline itself. 

An aside about the entry on homosexuality: While this information is definitely correct (You can't tell what a person's sexuality is just by looking at them! Having close relationships with people of any gender isn't an indicator of what their sexuality is!), it, uh, needed to be padded out with some "All sexualities are normal and ok and there are communities and support for everyone across the spectrum"-type info. As it stands, the two sentences they chose to highlight alone imply that being presumed gay is something to avoid 😬 But also, considering this was the 70s, this isn't, like overtly negative, which is open-minded of them, I guess. HEY, LET'S TAKE THIS MOMENT TO APPRECIATE HOW FAR SOCIETY HAS COME IN THE LAST HANDFUL OF DECADES.

The biggest way this comic has not aged gracefully is the shame-y and judgemental language it uses to talk about teen pregnancy, such as calling it "life destroying", a "trap" that keeps people in  "dead-end jobs", and saying teen parents have "no chance to develop". 

If this comic had been submitted to Oh Joy Sex Toy, we'd ask the creators to edit the language to emphasize that having unplanned children at a young age will make it significantly harder to complete school and pursue a career, and that they will indeed have to make a lot of sacrifices that their childless peers won't, but that teen parents can and do live full, rewarding lives and may be able to pursue their ambitions, it just may be harder, take longer, and be more difficult to afford. There's no moral judgement there, no putting down the mental and emotional development of someone for giving birth, no sneering at low-wage jobs (which many, many childless, older-than-teenage people work!), it's just stating what the challenges could be so they can make an informed decision.

This comic approaches sex education from a place of warnings and fear-mongering, which is not.... the worst, but it's not a great tool for teaching, either. The educational comics that Oh Joy Sex Toy runs approaches the subjects from a positive light, even if they're about difficult, negative subjects. Like when OJST covers STIs or terminating/losing a pregnancy, it makes sure to tell the reader that if this happens to them, they're still a whole worthy human being who has options and resources to access, they're not "bad" or shameful. People are more receptive to learning if they're being told what their options are (like HOW to prevent the spread of STIs or pregnancy) than if they're being shamed into it ("Your life is OVER if this happens to you! SO DON'T LET IT HAPPEN").

One thing this comic gets full points for is its use of humor and common language (even if it's aged by 2022 standards.) to address these subjects that can be very uncomfortable and embarrassing for people to read about. At Oh Joy Sex Toy, we're firm believers in humor being the most effective way of getting around somebody's discomfort with a subject so they can open up to learning more about it. It's hard to have your defenses and judgments up when you're laughing or enjoying a story!

Yes, I get that it would be really easy to dunk on this comic from multiple angles, but... what can I say? Somebody at Planned Parenthood saw the potential for comics to reach teens and give them some frank information about sex and reproduction wrapped up in entertainment! That's actually really cool!! They very well may have helped a teen or two keep from getting pregnant, and they most assuredly inspired a getting-deepthroated-by-Spider-Man's-webbing fetish in at least a handful of folks. So all around, I call this comic a win!