When you think of the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo what comes to your mind? Do you think people watch the show out of pity for the family or for their own amusement? Alana Thompson who is also known to the audience as Honey Boo Boo is a sassy six year old that rose to fame in the reality television series Toddlers and Tiaras. The television show Toddlers and Tiaras follows the lives of multiple families of contestants who are in child beauty pageants. The show was taken off the air due to controversy of outfits that the children would wear during these pageants. The television show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a spin-off of Toddlers and Tiaras and revolves around Alana and her mother, June Shannon who is referred to in the television show as “Mama June”. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is a reality tv show that suggests an authentic depiction of a white trash family, but instead exploits them for monetary gains. Mama June exploits Honey Boo Boo by putting her in the spotlight at such a young age not only on the show but also in beauty pageants. Although it seems as though Honey Boo Boo subverts conventions of childhood beauty, the show, in the end, ends up perpetuating white trash stereotypes for laughs.
A reality show is when real people are filmed over a certain period of time and is supposed to be entertaining rather than informative. Most reality television shows are scripted for the main purpose of viewing. Reality television depicts everything that is wrong with society today. These shows give not only the audience but the people in the shows unrealistic expectations. The people that are on most of these reality shows ruin their lives by being on them because people judge you when you are on shows like this. If you are on the air with millions of people watching, making a fool out of not only yourself but your entire family, it is going to be difficult to get a job when you are older. Once people form an opinion on a person, it is hard to change the way that person looks at you and being on a show like this could ruin one’s reputation for their entire life. The majority of people can agree that fifteen minutes of fame is not worth a lifetime of humility and that is what the Thompson family did to themselves. The show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo centers around Honey Boo Boo and Mama June but also features the rest of the Thompson. The Thompson family lives in a small town called McIntyre, Georgia which has a population of 700 and is about two hours south of Atlanta, Georgia. The show is mainly watched by people who instead of laughing with the family are laughing at the family. Instead of trying to help the Thompson family, those people are comparing their lives to the Thompson’s and are thankful that they are not in the same position as them. In some ways the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo perpetuates the white trash stereotype due to their unhealthy eating habits, lack of education, dialect, unemployment, housing situation, but in another way, they are breaking the stereotype by having Alana participate in these pageants even though she does not fit the typical child beauty pageant role of tall and skinny.
Child beauty pageants have become more and more popular in recent years. The difference between a beauty pageant and a child beauty pageant is that all of the contestants in a child beauty pageant are all under the age of sixteen. Many parents receive backlash for their child participating in beauty pageants. “If these girls are being encouraged to alter their appearance in order to win a prize, they may carry this idea over to their nonpageant lives and believe that glitz beauty will equal success” (Kelly, Jessica M., and Lance C. Garmon 201). Children that participate in beauty pageants are forced to have their hair done which takes hours, make up done including putting on fake eyelashes, and wear revealing outfits. Most parents have to bribe their children for them to participate in tasks such as getting their eye brows waxed. “One common complaint about child pageants are that they are sexualizing the girls and lead to abuse”(Kelly, Jessica M., and Lance C. Garmon 201). A study in 2005 questioned whether girls who participated in beauty pageants carried negative psychological affects with them years after the pageants were over. “Compared to a control group of women who had not participated in pageants when they were younger, the beauty pageant group had higher rates of body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, and impulse regulation problems”(Kelly, Jessica M., and Lance C. Garmon 201). One of the main reasons why many people argue that children should not participate in beauty pageants is due to the fact that once the pageants are over, the girls still have negative side effects from this exposure and from being in an environment like that at such a young age. When will parents say enough is enough and have this sudden trend come to a screeching halt?
Many viewers see the way that pageant moms treat their child as child abuse. “Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, whether through action or failing to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. There are many forms of child maltreatment, including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation and emotional abuse”(What Is Child Abuse 1). A woman went to a few tapings of the show Toddlers and Tiaras and was shocked at what she saw while there. “Children were denied naps, reprimanded for poor performance or flaws, threatened with punishment, and given many Pixy Stix (also known as “pageant crack”) throughout the day to maintain their energy” (Kelly, Jessica M., and Lance C. Garmon 203). A few things that she saw while at these tapings could be considered to some as child abuse. The question comes down to what are these young girls getting out of participating in these child beauty pageants? Is the trophy worth the abuse endured? At what point do the pros out weigh the cons?
Mama June does not treat Honey Boo Boo like a normal child. In one episode of Toddlers and Tiaras, Mama June explains to the viewers that she needs to give Honey Boo Boo “go go juice” to get her ready for her competition. Honey Boo Boo drinks “go go juice” every competition which is a blend of Mountain Dew and Red Bull. This concoction is not healthy for anyone to drink let alone a six year old. Once Honey Boo Boo drinks the juice, she is jumping up and down, consistently spinning on the floor, and is having a hard time staying still. Honey Boo Boo says that they juice makes her want to pull out all of her mom’s hair. While Honey Boo Boo is on stage, Mama June is behind the judges going through Honey Boo Boo’s performance incase she forgets anything on stage. In the one on one interview with Honey Boo Boo, the viewer can tell that she is full of herself. Honey Boo Boo says that she only participates in these competitions because she wants to win so that she is able to get money. Honey Boo Boo also says quotes like “Holla for a dolla” and thinks that she is a superstar because she participates in pageants. Towards the end of the episode, Honey Boo Boo comes in third place and the audience sees the look of disappointment on her face. Mama June is screaming in the crowd because last pageant, Honey Boo Boo only received a participation trophy and this time she did better. Honey Boo Boo is holding the trophy with one hand towards the ground with a frown on her face. At the interview at the end of the episode, Honey Boo Boo confesses that she is disappointed that she did not receive a big trophy or a crown. This shows the viewer that while Mama June thinks Honey Boo Boo did well, Honey Boo Boo is hard on herself and is comparing herself to the winner of the pageant instead of being happy for doing so well that day.
The Thompson family is a middle-class family. Most of the family lacks institutionalized capital. None of the children are in college or are encouraged to do well in school. Mama June does not work. In the television program she shows the audience how she makes her money week by week. She plays bingo and gets winnings from that. She also has four children with four different guys so she collects a weekly check from each of them for child support. She also only spends about $80 a week feeding the six members of the family. The family has no problem eating road kill. In some ways Mama June is smart and shows that she can manage her money, she does not act like she is too good or rich. The audience can tell this by her actions of cutting coupons before going shopping each week to get her family the groceries that they need. Mama June is known as the coupon queen because she buys the necessities in bulk and has instilled this trait in all of her children. In some ways Mama June is foolish because as the average person knows it is very expensive to eat healthy. If Mama June is only willing to spend $80 a week on food, the children are not going to have a balanced diet and are not going to be eating healthy due to the fact that eating healthy is very expensive. The only way the family will be able to eat for the rest of the week is to buy nonperishable food so that it does not go bad and because it is cheaper than the alternative of vegetables or fruits. Mama June should increase the budget that she spends a week on groceries because this is leading to the fact the no one in that family is healthy and not eating nutritional food every week is not going to help that problem. The vicious cycle of being a white trash family comes primary due to the fact that the family members are uneducated and do not know right from wrong. A family cannot break white trash habits without learning what they are and how to change them.
The Thompson family also does not have a good appearance. The house that the family lives in is pretty old and beat up. We see this in an episode when the family is decorating their house for Christmas and the lit-up tree is a little broken. The daughter suggests throwing the tree away, but Mama June refuses and puts it in the ground with a hammer. While trying to put it in the ground Mama June misses and breaks the tree even more. The lights on the tree are now broken so having this in the front yard as a decoration is useless but Mama June still refuses to throw it out and makes her daughter tape the tree so that it can still be used in their Christmas light display. This is when Honey Boo Boo tells her mom that she is a hoarder and can never throw anything away. The family also wears raggedy clothes and is not clean shaven. Some members in the family look like they need a haircut and have not showered in like a week. Honey Boo Boo’s dad has a few of his teeth missing which makes him unpleasant to look at. This perpetuates the white trash stereotype through an objectified state, if someone was to look at their Christmas light set up they would assume that this family is poor. This conclusion is not hard to come to considering the condition of the items used to decorate the front yard. The audience appreciates the effort that “Mama June” is putting into setting up for the holiday, but sometimes you just need to let things that are broken go since they cannot be used for anything and will just take up space. When “Mama June” encourages fixing the tree lights she broke this is a good lesson for the audience that when something is broken that you always try everything possible to fix it before coming to the last resort of throwing it away. The effort of trying to fix it shows that she is not willing to give up and that the fight is never over until it is over. This is also a good lesson for kids considering that the Thompson family does not have many decorations, but they continue to put a smile on their face and make do with what they have. This shows that you do not need to have money to be happy. Happiness comes from spending time with those you love and making the best out of every situation that is presented to you and never giving up.
The Thompson family also taught the world some new vocabulary and also showed them how to see the world in a different way. Some of the vocabulary words that the family made famous or like an every word was “forklift foot” and “neck crust”. These words are pretty disgusting, but they were not words before and this family made them something. I think the show dehumanizes the family in some sense whereas the audience does not see them as a person or family. Though the audience does not have a very good audience and gets so much hate. The Thompson family does a good job at sticking to their family values and not changing for anyone or anything.
Though the Thompson family gets a tremendous amount of hate for their actions in the show, the family should also be applauded for sticking to their family core values. The family’s economic situation does not change during the show. The family acts the same way from the first season of the show to the very last season. In some instances, Mama June knows that she is getting hate for putting not only herself but also her young daughter in the limelight at such a young age and tries to justify it. Mama June states multiple times on different episodes that she is not doing anything to hurt Honey Boo Boo and that Honey Boo Boo likes participating in events like these. Though Mama June says this, her actions tell otherwise. Honey Boo Boo will now think less of herself at such a young age and will think that participating in events like these are conventional when they are far from it. Though the Thompson family does not have the money one would expect from being on a television show like this, they stick to their values of honesty, integrity, and kindness.
Most of the audience that watch Toddlers and Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo only watch the show to make fun of the family due to their current situation and the way that the Thompson family acts. Contrary to mass effects theories, all consumers of a specific media program may not respond to the media content in the same way (Coyne, Padilla-Walker, & Howard, 2013). People may argue that some people watch the show to sympathize with the family and their current situation but that is just not true, if you were that sympathetic towards them you would not be watching them suffer and make mistakes, you would be trying to help the family in any possible way that you could. Many people watch the show to laugh at the family which is very different than laughing with the family. People watch the show because they are glad that they are not in the situation that the Thompson family is in. The fact that people have to scrutinize others for how they live and critique all the little things that the family does that they do not agree with is just wrong. People shouldn’t be happy that they are doing better than the Thompson family because that is not hard to do if you have the right foundation. People need to start being more caring for others and show others that even when times get tough that we are all here for each other. Both shows also glamorizes the exploitation of children which is very unfair. Children only have one childhood and some mothers like “Mama June” take that childhood away from their child for their own gain. “Mama June” lives through her daughter Honey Boo Boo and that is why she is entered in all of these beauty pageants at such a young age. In the show Toddlers and Tiaras the audience sees the true character of the mother’s that are on the show come out when they explain that when the their daughters win these beauty pageants it is because of them and that their daughters would not have won without them. Some mother’s even go as far as claiming the trophy as theirs. Mothers have no right to live through their child, at that stage a child should be doing whatever is going to make them happy. Children should be hanging out with friends, participating at school events, sporting events, or playing a musical instrument. A child should be doing something productive with their life instead of always having to do whatever their parent wants them to do because their parent already got one childhood and has no right taking their own kid’s childhood away from them. The kid will regret doing everything to make the parent happy because in the end they will not be happy and that is the only thing that matters in life. You yourself have to be happy first before you try to make anyone else happy.
Do you think that the Thompson family is white trash? Do you feel that Honey Boo Boo is being abused by Mama June? What are your thoughts on reality television shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Toddlers and Tiaras? The television network TLC and Mama June exploit Honey Boo Boo in varies way through Toddlers and Tiaras and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Honey Boo Boo is an innocent child who is vulnerable for a few main reasons. Honey Boo Boo is vulnerable due to the fact that she is a child, a girl, and poor. Though Bourdieu’s article does not bring up topics such as race or gender which are common to think about when thinking of white trash, the emphasis on the three types of cultural are very prevalent to remember while watching the show through different types of lens. Through the institutionalized state, the Thompson family shows that they do not have a great educational foundation due to the fact that “Mama June” does not have a steady job and that the kids in the family have no desire to continue their education by going to college. Through the objectified state, the Thompson family shows that they are a working-class family. Their house is not filled with fancy objects due to them struggling to make things meet on a regular basis. The Thompson family does not fill all the typical characteristics of a white trash family but in some ways they act like one but in others they do not. There will never be a “perfect” white trash family because the meaning is different to everyone and it is unclear of how many of the characteristics you or your family needs to identify with to be considered a white trash family. Though many people do not think that anything good can come out of this show, it teaches the audience that everyone has their struggles in life and how you overcome them is what matters at the end of the day and that is what other people will judge you based upon.