Missing White Woman Syndrome is alive and well
By: Gio Liguori, Rise Against Hate Research Intern
Most have probably heard of the horrors of the Gabby Petito case: a young, attractive 22 year old girl with a promising future, disappearing while on vacation with her boyfriend. After revelations of abuse and murder, a highly publicized search for her and her likely murderer ensued. This case captivated the nation before and after the manhunt for her boyfriend was resolved, with Gabby’s face and name plastered all over the front page of newspapers and websites alike.
Over one year ago, in August 2020, a 23 year old woman from Florida named Brittany Palmer disappeared after last being seen at a friend’s home. Her situation, however, was far more dire — Brittany suffered a car accident several years prior, leaving her with a severe brain injury that made it difficult for her to walk and left her rather vulnerable. Besides the local news story here and a true crime piece there, not much was made of Brittany’s disappearance. To this day, her whereabouts remain unknown and her mother continues to beg the public for information anyone could provide to bring her daughter home.
Why was Gabby’s case so gripping while Brittany’s was cast to the side and forgotten altogether? There is one, blatant reason: Gabby was white, while Brittany was Black.
The Gabby Petito case is a prime example of Missing White Woman Syndrome, the phenomenon where missing persons cases involving white women (especially well off and young white women) are extensively covered by the media. This hyperfocus on white women usually comes at the expense of cases involving people of color or people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. It is a form of media bias and racial injustice that we often do not even notice, as most are completely unaware of missing persons cases if no attention is drawn to them. Cable news media capitalizes on the public’s obsession with true crime and violence, appealing to their main demographic of viewers, which skews older and whiter, by prioritizing such cases. While this may be great for business, it is detrimental for the thousands of families that cannot get help from police or the public for their missing loved ones.
This phenomenon is highly evident based on the experiences of those missing a loved one and is backed up by research and data. According to a report from the Wyoming Division of Victim Services, the state in which Petito disappeared, only 18 percent of missing Indigenous women since 2000 had news articles written about their case — 6 in total. This is compared to 51 percent of white women who received articles about their disappearance in the same time frame. Not only were missing Indigenous women significantly less likely to be acknowledged at all in the news, when they were, their coverage was more likely to be in a negative or disparaging light. These disparities are evident among the Black community too; about 40 percent of people reported missing in 2020 were Black, despite constituting only 13 percent of the U.S. population. Statistics become more difficult for missing Latinx individuals, as they are classified as white demographically, though this does not necessarily subject their cases to the same coverage as white women.
This prioritization of white women’s cases is a lasting effect of implicit bias, beauty standards, and white superiority that lingers throughout American society. By placing disproportionate attention and resources on white people over minorities, it can be reasonably concluded that, in the eyes of the public, mass media, and law enforcement, these lives matter more.
Past cases, such as Petito’s shows that coverage can have a direct, tangible, and quick impact on missing person’s investigations. Informing the public on who or what to look for can expand an investigation and provide authorities with information they would not uncover on their own.
Turning all eyes to one case and a blind eye to others, especially on the basis of race, is the antithesis of a fair and just society. Families should not have to struggle with law enforcement or the public for the safe return of a loved one. While there is clearly a larger structural issue involved with Missing White Woman Syndrome, it can be chipped away at over time, hopefully providing more closure and relief for all individuals missing a loved one.
References
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/23/us/families-missing-black-people/index.html
https://blackandmissinginc.com/
https://www.nativehope.org/en-us/understanding-the-issue-of-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2332351574/fulltextPDF/B998A00AD03A4F34PQ/1?accountid=11243
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1879966709?pq-origsite=primo&accountid=11243
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lGNNwqfkEAazq7xyNPjm6DJcOReN9SrC/view
