If you’re a Kailyn Lowry fan, then you’re probably aware that the Teen Mom 2 star’s life is loaded with drama.
And you’re probably also aware that she receives a tremendous amount of hate from fans, many of whom are relentlessly brutal in their social media comments.
These days, TM2 obsessives are primarily interested in the love triangle involving Kailyn, her ex-husband, Javi Marroquin, and their co-star Briana DeJesus.
Despite doing her best to avoid getting too deeply involved in the situation, Kailyn is taking harsher criticism than ever, while Javi appears to have been let off the hook entirely.
So what’s the deal?
Is it a sexist double standard, or is Javi actually less responsible for the deterioration of the relationship than Kail is?
Join us as we explore this question in the gallery below, and watch Teen Mom 2 online for more on the wild life of Kailyn Lowry.
A Messy Split
As fans know, Kailyn and Javi went from TM2’s most celebrated couple to the show’s most bitter rivals in record time. In the year since their divorce was finalized, it appears that Lowry and Marroquin’s relationship has only worsened.
A Slow Deterioration
It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when it really looked as though Kail and Javi would be able to form a civil and amicable co-parenting relationship–an arrangement that’s been attempted by many Teen Mom couples, but rarely attained. Unfortunately, the former couple’s tenuous peace didn’t last long.
A Secretive Split
Fans weren’t aware at the time, but it seems Kailyn and Javi began working out the terms of their divorce prior to his deployment with the US Air Force. It was said to be a mutual split, but it wouldn’t be long before things got ugly …
Cutting Up in Qatar
Kailyn says Javi cheated on her repeatedly during their marriage, and while he claims he didn’t start dating until their divorce was finalized, she insists she has photographic evidence that he was with at least one another woman during his time in Qatar.
Javi Drama
Things rapidly got worse when Marroquin returned to the States. Within weeks, the peaceful co-parenting arrangement he and Kailyn had dreamed of had become a distant memory.
A Jealous Ex?
Sources say Marroquin became upset by news that Kailyn was dating again. And what happened next made him downright livid …
Kailyn & Chris
Kailyn got involved with fellow Delaware State University student Chris Lopez, and to say the relationship moved quickly would be a massive understatement…
A Bun In Kail’s Oven
The world soon learned that Kailyn was pregnant with Chris’ baby. For reasons that still aren’t entirely clear, this news seemed to drive Javi insane.
Javi in the House
At one point, Javi even entered Kailyn’s home without permission, leading her to file for an order of protection against her increasingly unstable ex.
A Convenient Excuse?
Javi says his primary concern was for his son, Lincoln, and he feared that Kailyn was spreading herself too thin as a mother. Comments he’s made since, however, seem to indicate that he was simply jealous that Kail was in a new relationship.
Javi and Lauren
Javi began dating Lauren Comeau, but he seemed to remain oddly fixated on Kailyn, even taking Comeau on the same dates he once went on with Kail and boasting about it on social media.
He Went There
But it wasn’t until after his breakup with Lauren that Javi dealt Kailyn the lowest blow yet…
Javi and Briana
Javi began dating Kailyn’s co-star Briana DeJesus. Both parties boasted about their relationship early on, seemingly in an effort to rub Kailyn’s nose in it.
Bad Timing
The stunt couldn’t have come at a worse time. A newly-singly mother of three, Kail already had enough on her plate at the time of the Javiana announcement.
The Case Against Javi
We say all this not to shame Javi–divorce is tough, and both he and Kailyn did some things they’re probably not proud of.
Why All the Kail Hate?
Our goal is simply to point out that Javi bears at least half of the responsibility for the deterioration of his relationship, and yet Kail gets the vast majority of the hate.
Self-Sufficient or “Spoiled”?
The daughter of an alcoholic mother and an absentee father, Kail was forced to grow up fast. She became a mom in her teens, and her kids have been her top priority ever since. But for some reason, she’s frequently criticized for being un unfit mother.
Case In Point
Recently, Kailyn tweeted that she was tired, but planned to stay up later than usual to watch a new episode of a TV show that she enjoys. “You’re staying up for yourself …?” wrote one “fan,” who presumably lives an ascetic life of complete selflessness, a la a Tibetan monk. It begs the question of why Kail takes so much flak and Javi doesn’t. And we think the answer is this…
A Culture of Mom-Shaming
Sadly, there’s a surprisingly large contingent of viewers who tune into Teen Mom: OG and Teen Mom 2 to engage in one of the internet’s favorite activities–mom-shaming. Male or female, fans can feel better about their own parenting by picking apart the imperfections of others. Though the show has featured MANY shoddy dads over the years, the men always seem to skate by with far less criticism. Call it another symptom of life in a society in which women all too frequently get the short end of the stick.