I've never liked the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, but that's not why I'm posting this rant. I'm ranting for a more serious reason.
In case you've been living under a rock, Mama June Shannon is the matriarch of the TLC reality show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. She's the mother in a trashy, stereotypical redneck family in Georgia, with horrible manners, dumb catchphrases, and doing strange things such as turning their pet pig into a "pageant pig" (and watching it defecate on the table). South Park had a field day parodying this mess of a family.
The show was cancelled in 2014 after it was reported the Mama June was in a relationship with a sex offender. Making things worse, the same sex offender also molested one of Mama June's other daughters in the past.
After the show was cancelled, the family disappeared from the limelight, never hearing from them again. Out of nowhere, Mama June is back in the spotlight for undergoing gastric bypass surgery and is now gracing social media and magazine covers once again, this time for her extreme weight loss. "From not to hot", "How I lost 460 pounds", blah blah blah.
Excuse me, but did the public suddenly forget about why her precious television show was cancelled? Because I certainly didn't. As a sexual abuse survivor, I was deeply disgusted when I heard the news that Mama June was dating a convicted sex offender, especially when it was the same one that assaulted her daughter years ago. Needless to say, TLC did the right thing pulling the plug on the show, for the safety and well being of the children.
Three years later, Ms. Shannon is back in the press for her makeover/weight loss, with zero mention of why her show was shut off, nor is there any attempt of remorse or apology for what transpired. Her show was cancelled for a very serious reason and now she's being rewarded for a decision she made, a very dangerous decision that not only cost her the reality show, but could've endangered her other children as well.
It's people like Mama June that forget about the survivors of sexual violence, it sends a bad message. Being an enabler shouldn't be rewarded, they should be punished for their involvement, they're just as guilty. It's all about the fame and trying to stay relevant, not trying to correct what she did. While Ms. Shannon gets a makeover and plenty of attention, it doesn't change what her daughter went through, it doesn't take away her scars. I'd rather see her daughter in the spotlight talking about her abuse than to see her fame-obsessed, abuse enabling mother in my newsfeed every day.
Anybody can lose weight, but it doesn't change who you are as a person, you're still an enabler, and we wish you would stay out of the spotlight for good. For the sake of sexual assault survivors, please go away.