The show falls under the information category as is it a documentary showing the lives of teenage brides. It documents the transition of childhood to adulthood and the idea of modern marriage in British society. The target audience for this program would be women between the ages of 25-40 as it is a documentary and teenagers would be less willing to watch it, but also as marriage is typically viewed as a 'female' activity.
Age
As the show is called 'Baby Faced Brides', the people on the show are within the teenage age range, predominantly 17-19. The show uses close ups of the casts faces to emphasise their youth and show imperfections like acne that is a common sign of puberty, the braces again common at the teenage age gap which again emphasises the casts youth. The first couple are seen raising a child, however the male fiance is not the babies father which has the suggestion that the mother is not responsible or perhaps mature enough to make adult decisions - as she would have been categorised as a teenage mother, but also by having the baby it would have greatly effected her education. The first couple fit the stereotypical teenage couple as they have a child and seem to disregard society and contrast with the ideal suburban family. The audience could make the assumption that both teenagers are on benefits and have an underclass background as a job is not mentioned - but also as the male took a ring previously owned by his mother as opposed to spending money on an engagement. The way the male explains the proposal also emphasises the stereotype that teenagers are reckless as he proposed whilst drunk - suggesting that it perhaps wasn't in the right state to make justified decisions. The male in the first couple has the contrast with the female as he shows that he doesn't perhaps care as much as she does about the wedding. The second couple contrast with the stereotypical teenage couple as they appear to be more mature and think more rationally than the first couple. They also appear to take more pride in their appearance, the show features a heavy amount of two shots to show the couple together and how close they are - with the hugging and kissing emphasising the romantic aspect of the show. The third bride chooses to get married in her prom dress which again shows a clear sign of how young she is and the financial struggles at a young age.
Gender
The females in the show are represented as the ones that want to take control of the wedding planning as it would be considered to be a 'feminine' activity. Whereas the males are represented as going along with what the bride decides, as if the male doesn't care about the planning aspect of the wedding - as typically planning a wedding isn't considered to be a male task. The females on their wedding day all wear a dress which is predominantly traditional attire for females at a wedding. The males all wore suits which again is a traditional garment for males at a wedding. White symbolises purity, which would contrast with the first bride as she has had a baby, therefore there was a traditional element in the wedding, this generally being the only traditional aspect of the ceremony.
Ethnicity
The Ethnicity in the program is White British. They are represented in a negative way, this could reflect on their class as well as they are all of an underclass nature. They try to save money where they can, for example one couple have recycled a ring used by the groom's mother. The audience could judge them in different ways, for example as they are underclass and obviously have to keep to a tight budget. The audience could assume that both of them are to lazy to get a job and pay for themselves, this is a stereotype of young British people. However, the girl with pink hair had a child at 15, now the child is 2 years of age, she doesn't really have much choice to get a job as she has to look after her child. This would also lead to audience to judge her and they would have thoughts involving her not being mature enough and making a big mistake. This could open another debate, that stereotypically young, underclass white British tend to be on low-pay jobs or take advantage of the welfare system. A statistic from the NHS in 2010 about teenage pregnancy said that white British girls aged between 13-19 had the highest rate of birth (57.4%) compared to other ethnicities such as Black British which accounts for Caribbean and African (49.1%) or Asian British and other, which accounts for Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian etc. (8.3%). This is is reflected in the program as the girl with pink hair has had a child at 15. This looks poorly on the white British ethnicity.
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