A travel blogger has defended himself against online users who call him “creepy” for being in a relationship with a 23-year-old woman who looks 8 years old due to a disability.
Dan Swygart, 26, began dating reality star Shauna Rae. The woman’s bodily development was stunted due to the chemotherapy treatment she received as a child for brain cancer. The young woman, who weighs 50 pounds and is 3’10”, stars in the TLC series “I Am Shauna Rae”, which precisely chronicles the challenges she faces due to her condition, including her difficulty finding a partner due to the situation of her
The online controversy arose after Swygart recently shared several photos and posts with Rae on Instagram.
Swygart revealed that he approached Rae with flowers after watching the first episode of the show. After this, they met in person and had several subsequent dates.
“It’s very important to remember that Shauna is an incredible 23-year-old woman who has a disability,” Swygart argued in the December 23 recording. “So if you’re building a connection with her, it’s important to acknowledge her disability and look beyond that and build on who she is as an individual,” she added.
“As soon as you say she can’t have a world connection with someone else, you dehumanize her. She is a human being. She deserves to have relationships and connections with whoever she wants,” she posed.
In another video on Sunday, Swygart called the attitude of those who question his intentions with Rae disgusting.
“Shauna and I are still good friends getting to know each other. But I think the attitude of some people is absolutely disgusting,” she considered. “She has been through a lot in this life. She overcame cancer as a child, she always felt different and has been treated differently by society, ”she said.
Swygart, originally from the UK, appears in the second season of the show where he tries to make that connection with Rae.
The man’s arguments do not seem to convince many users who consider that he is “sick” for having a legitimate interest in women.
“Yeah, she’s 23, but she looks and talks like she’s 8. Plus she doesn’t act like a mature woman. She’s like a girl,” one critic posed.
“If any man or woman can honestly say that they can see her as a ‘sexual woman,’ they are either lying or sick. End of discussion (period)”, opined another person.