Juno is eating lunch with her friend Leah. Her pregnant belly is clearly visible.

Many critics and psychologists claim the Juno Effect to be a leading cause in teen pregnancy. Their claim is that media is crossing a boundary and is no longer teaching teens to just say no, rather, it is glorifying teen pregnancy. Dr. Peggy Drexler is one such psychologist and gender scholar to claim media is creating a negative influence on teenage minds. In her article in the Huffington Post, “The Juno Effect — Media, Teens and Pregnancy,” Drexler asks the question, “Do sexualized movie and TV story lines shape teen behavior” (Drexler)? She goes on to claim that early exposure to sexual content sticks in a teen mind and that in a study, “teens exposed to the most such content are twice as likely to get pregnant before they’re 20 as those exposed to less of it” (Drexler). Drexler, and other critics and researchers, argue that, despite filmmakers attempt to show the struggle of teen parenthood, they are actually glorifying it. “Sex sells” (Drexler). Advancing on to the next couple pages, I will argue that research shows the opposite. Film has not become a motive for teen’s actions, rather decisions are made based on family influence and other relationships. Juno is simply a film intended to delve in to the mind of a teenager and understand why they make the decisions they do.