Looking at Teen Motherhood: The Fantastic Moms Video
VHS, 15 minutes
Home Video $30; Institutions $100

Directed by Salome Chasnoff
Produced by Dalida Maria Benfield and the Fantastic Moms 

A group of teen mothers deconstruct popular stereotypes of teen motherhood, offering their lives as evidence and bolstering their argument with thoughtful analysis. By using their birth stories to narrate themselves in their own image, The Fantastic Moms bring new life to public views of teen motherhood as well. This tape was developed out of a year-long multimedia workshop on teen motherhood.

Companion essay, "Performing Teen Motherhood on Video: Autoethnography as Counterdiscourse," by Salome Chasnoff

"Working on The Fantastic Moms Video, I learned who I wanted to be from it. We took a lot of situations and we talked about them, and afterwards I thought about them.... It helped me talk to my mom more, and by her telling me, 'It's okay, everything is going to be all right, don't worry,' this eased me. And another thing the video did for me, it made me feel special because it was something I could tell other people, 'Don't be afraid, you have friends, don't worry what people think.' I'm planning on showing it in English class because I feel it's a strong video."

– Charlotte Lowe, workshop participant and co-producer, Looking At Teen Motherhood

"Generally, staff people were floored when they saw the video. They were surprised by the girls' intelligence and clearly articulated thinking. They were also surprised to hear what teen mothers thought about. They thought teen moms were dummies, to be pitied. Kids who stumbled into a hell without redemption. When they heard them talking, the girls became people, each with a unique specialness. After seeing the video, staff were able to address their new teen mothers as special, as fully human. I showed it to these groups repeatedly, and each time they saw new things in it.... [For the girls,] seeing themselves on the video had a powerful effect, you know, Is that really me? They watch it often. After being used to hearing what failures they were, here they got to see their strength and they took it to heart....The whole experience heightened their self-awareness in a very positive way. They saw themselves as a team, working together in a process toward a product. They saw that they can form a group, that they did not need to be isolated, alienated individuals, renegades.... They also learned through the process that they were women, that they were special as women. They saw themselves as having talent, as a group, as individual women, and as mothers."

– Geneve Wade, former Parent Education Programs Coordinator and Site Director, Family Focus-Our Place, Evanston, IL

This video was made possible through the support of
Family Focus – Our Place, Evanston, IL
King Salmon Inc., Chicago, IL
The Chasnoff Family

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