Remember being 16…were you having sex? Thinking about having sex? Thinking about thinking about having sex? What were your opinions on abortion? Was anyone writing them down and publishing them in a magazine and on a million websites? What a co-incidence. Because that’s also totally what’s just happened to Justin Bieber, he of the tricky hair and the teen heart-throb status.
Justin Bieber was profiled in the February 2011 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine where they asked him whether he thought people should wait until marriage to have sex. Bieber responded, “I don’t think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them.” Then they asked him his opinion on abortion because every 16 year old boy has an opinion on abortion don’t they? Don’t they?
His answer created almost as much of a stir as has his appearance at a teenage girls’ slumber party would. He said: “I really don’t believe in abortion, I think [an embryo] is a human. It’s like killing a baby. “
Okay, he was raised as a strict Christian and his view is pretty straightforward. But that wasn’t enough for Rolling Stone, clearly keen to get right into the psych of a 16 year old boy they pushed him even further
“Even in the case of rape?” they asked. “Um, Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.” Ouch. Everything happens for a reason? Really? Women are raped for a reason?
After much hair flipping, a media frenzy and a public outcry and Rolling Stones were at pains to point out that there was more to that sentence.
Due to an editing error, this rollingstone.com news item originally included an incomplete quote from our Justin Bieber cover story. The actual quote, which appears in full in the March 3 print edition of Rolling Stone, reads: “Um. Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don’t know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that.” For the record: Bieber was quoted correctly by writer Vanessa Grigoriadis in her feature. To see how that portion of the story appears in the print edition, click here.
Justin Bieber speaks to a huge demographic, in fact Business Insider recently released a comparative report on the 20 most popular people on the Internet (see gallery below for the full listing) and Bieber was number one. If millions of teenage fans are swooning over Bieber, hanging on to his every action, buying the merchandise and inhaling his every word how can we discount the impact of these words?
Sarrah Le Marquand writes in the Daily Telegraph:
Sarrah Le MarquandWhile rape victims may be slightly less insulted by the acknowledgment that there’s not always a perfectly good “reason” behind a violent crime, it fails to dilute the breathtaking ignorance of his remarks.As others have noted, Rolling Stone’s clarification only served as proof of the clout of Bieber’s minders rather than absolving the baby-faced crooner for mouthing off on things he patently knows nothing about.
You can (and should) read the full article here
Watch Justin behind the scenes at the Rolling Stone photoshoot answering questions that, well are questions that a 16 year old can answer
[youtube kPGS4lTuhiM 640 390]
Maybe we expect too much from our celebrities, should they really have an opinion on everything?
Top Comments
The pro life argument doesn't seek to take away the rights of women to choose what to do with their bodies - it seeks to recognise that embryos have a right to life. There is a very key difference here. A woman and man's right to choose comes when they choose to have sex. Yes pregnancy can come at a time when there are a whole range of factors which make having children difficult, but how does this outweigh another's life? If that child was born the mother or father couldn't kill it, but 7 months earlier they could.
And perhaps Justin Bieber's "everything happens for a reason" comment was referring to falling pregnant after rape, not the rape itself.
I'm a mother of two - is that qualification enough for you Sarrah? Or should I have not wanted my children?
It's important that people think about these issues even if it isn't relevant to them now because in future it might be. And disagreeing with someone's decision is not the same as judging them for it.
And yes, I am sorry that I sound so fiesty in this comment but I'm sick to death of people accusing us pro-lifers of trying to take away the rights of women. As far as I'm concerned, it has nothing to do with it.
I actually don't think Justin is the bad guy here. I remember when I was 16 in my christian phase my opinions mimicked his....I was heavily involved in the church and that influenced most if not all of my beliefs!!
Time has changed most of that!!
You can see he at least tried to get out of the question by admitting he will never be in that situation.
Rolling Stone were trying to create controversy - they succeeded.