Bristol Palin, 18, went “On the Record” Monday with Greta Van Susteren in her first TV interview since giving birth to her 2-month-old son, Tripp. 

On the one hand, she was touted by some as a new spokesperson against teen pregnancy.  After all, she stated that she would have preferred waiting to give birth until she was much older.  But that was the weaker hand being played, regardless of what Palin intended.  As a pretty, intelligent, poised and smiling teenager on national television with a cute baby, Palin has, perhaps unwittingly, become a spokesperson for teen pregnancy.

Palin told Van Susteren that her baby brings “so much joy,” she doesn’t regret giving birth to him at all.  She just wishes he had entered her life about ten years later.  She, like Jamie Lynn Spears, is helping paint a picture of teen mothers as happy, strong and confident young women, enjoying the limelight and making the best of things with the support of their loving families.

Palin looked as well-kempt and well-rested as she was well-spoken.  There was no desperation in her voice.  She shed no tears of panic or guilt.  She hasn’t sworn off sex.  She hasn’t sworn off unprotected sex.  By all appearances, she genuinely loves her baby and is committed to him.  Just like Spears.

So what’s the problem?  Why would American teenaged girls, who are desperately seeking something genuine to cling to in their lives, something more to believe in than their friends’ Facebook profiles, take Palin’s life story as a cautionary tale?  Why wouldn’t they see it, instead, as an antidote to the meaninglessness of ceaseless instant messaging, the interpersonal black hole of cyberspace, the emptiness of hooking up with one sexual partner after another, often beginning in seventh grade, if not sooner?

In a world where the stock market is crashing, major industries are dissolving, drugs are rampant and the government desperately needs to regain credibility, the gaze of an infant looking back into one’s eyes can be the kind of humanity that teenagers intuit will anchor them to something genuine.

For millions of American girls, Palin and Spears are, whether they like it or not, defining the leading edge of what I believe is a new social, cultural moment in America in which girl-women aged 15 through 17 are actually losing their fear of motherhood and entertaining the concept of having babies as a matter of free choice and free will. 

This is just the beginning of the example Palin and Spears are setting.  There will be countless very cute photographs of their babies.  Magazines will cover these girls as they take their children to their first day of nursery school. There will be coverage of their love affairs, engagements and weddings.  If they hold themselves together and life brings them joy (which I sincerely hope it does), they will be glamorized for their boldness, their commitment to their kids and their inevitable personal achievements.

Teenagers are not going to look at Palin or Spears and think how horrifying it would be to be them.  More than likely, they are going to look at these trailblazers and be envious — whether consciously or unconsciously.  These “girl-women” look like they have it all.

All we need now to seal the deal and create even more of a groundswell in favor of early childbirth is a special bailout plan for young, unwed mothers.  Maybe a free General Motors Hybrid SUV and government-insured mortgage would do the trick?

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.

For millions of Americans, every New Year begins with resolutions about losing weight and getting fit.  But with the arrival of 2009 in particular, it seems like we’re being deluged with messages about how to shed pounds and sculpt our physiques.  It seems like every magazine, newspaper, Internet site and morning show is paying homage to those who have achieved control over their appetites, directed their energies into exercise and emerged healthier, sexier or more powerful. 

“The Biggest Loser” is bigger than ever, not to mention weight-loss programming like the “Joy Fit Club,” “Celebrity Fit Club,” “X-Weighted,” “Big Medicine,” “Bulging Brides” and “I Can Make You Thin.”  Vegetarian kids are getting lots of airtime.  Television segments on eating better in ‘09, women now half their size and The 4-Day Diet seem like an everyday event.

I believe that this intense focus on our bodies — which we may also see echoed in increasing sexual contact between teenagers, increasing teen pregnancy rates, increasing rates of infidelity and even increasing birth rates — could be fueled by our growing sense that we can control little else.  With the global economy in chaos, with the continued threat of terrorism and with our nation at war, it is natural that we would want to show somehow that we are the masters of our own destinies — if only in what number pops up when we stand on a scale, or what our muscles look like when we look in the mirror.

Not all of this is a bad thing, of course.  Fitness is a noble goal that more Americans should embrace.  A focus on physical beauty isn’t the end of the world.  Very few of us are without any interest in whether others perceive us as attractive.  And no one can find fault with creating children we can embrace, love and nurture.

The trouble comes when a desire for control becomes hyperbolic, because it is fueled by social or economic anxieties.  That’s the “breeding ground” not just for increased rates of teen sex and pregnancy, but for increased rates of anorexia and bulimia and steroid use in gyms. 

If all we can believe in is our bodies, then manipulating them into the right size and shape, and using them to assert we are capable, worthwhile and powerful can become a national preoccupation bordering on addiction.  In exactly the same way, more and more of us can fall victim to manipulating our brains to deliver pleasure on demand (when little flows from the world around us) through the use of illicit drugs. 

This literal turning in on ourselves isn’t just fueled by an inability to control the national debt or whether GM goes out of business or whether Americans lose their homes or keep their jobs.  I worry it is also fueled by a lack of trust in individuals and institutions that Americans once believed in.  In a year that starts out with headlines on banks gone bust, CEOs in private jets begging Congress for bailouts, Rod Blagojevich, Bernie Madoff and rogue Attorney Marc Dreier (to name a few), it is as if Americans are reverting to what they know they own — their bodies.  There, they still have a shot at having final say over what happens.  If they trust nothing else, they can trust what they literally consume, see, touch and feel.

What’s that old line about what to do when you feel like you’re lost in a dream — or a nightmare?  Pinch yourself.  (Or pinch an inch.) 

Well, there’s no harm in focusing on our bodies as long as we don’t lose sight of everything else.

Dr. Keith Ablow is a psychiatry correspondent for FOX News Channel and a New York Times bestselling author. His newest book, “Living the Truth: Transform Your Life through the Power of Insight and Honesty” has launched a new self-help movement. Check out Dr. Ablow’s website at livingthetruth.com or e-mail him at info@keithablow.com.

With films such as “Juno” scoring well among critics and moviegoers last year and the media’s great attention to the birth Thursday of 17-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears’ daughter, many say teen pregnancy is being glamorized in the media.Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and FOX News contributor, said factors such as these may have played into a reported pregnancy pact made by girls at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Mass., where the pregnancy rate has quadrupled in the past year.

School officials were baffled at first, but they soon discovered nearly half of the 17 expectant moms had made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies, school principal Joseph Sullivan told Time.com.