"Missing White Woman Syndrome"

I... I do not like the idea behind this trope. It takes the idea of anti-racism racism, already an unsettling bit of prejudice, and amps up the squick factor by levels of magnitude by applying it to rape and murder. I'm not saying that people who don't fit into the category of "young, pretty white women" should be ignored by the media when they disappear. I'm saying that I get strong racosexist vibes from people who claim that the media should not cover specific groups when they disappear-particularly when they point out specific victims as "you shouldn't have cared about these people".

What?

Missing White Woman Syndrome is not "you shouldn't care about these people". It's "Why do you care about this one particular class of people so much more than anyone else?"

Is this really a trope? It's a media thing, not fiction (although you could argue there's not much difference these days).

MWWS is a ratings strategy. That's all.

I think any time a young woman goes missing and turns up dead in a ditch, its a tragedy.

Well, technically not a tragedy in the strict Greek/Shakespearian definition, but it's definitely very sad (as it is if ANYONE disappears and later turns up dead in a trench).

Too bad the media doesn't agree.

Yeah, all those rich fuckers keep getting attention.

A hundred school shootings, which one gets media attention? The rich kid's school.

@KCK: to what do you refer?

@Drunk G Rich? I'm talking about racism, not classism.

@Drunk That typically a case about a missing white female will receive the most media coverage.

@KCK: I'm pretty sure that most of the missing white women that get media coverage are also rolling in money.

@KCK/DG: Girls, do we have to do this again?

@KCK: any time someone gets murdered, its a bad thing. White people think this about black people. Remember that, okay?

@DG: back off, honey. Not everything's about class, all right?

Shit, I should not be playing peacemaker with this much cheap tequila in my bloodstream.

@Drunk You and "white people" are not the media; I'm not saying that they do not care, it's that they do not care enough.

I'm with DG on this. It's more classism than racism.

Even still, the reason that people are shocked by the fact that it is a woman missing probably also ties into Wouldn't Hit a Girl and Even Evil Has Standards.

edited 26th Feb '11 8:11:05 PM by Radd

With Drunk S on this one, I gotta say.

How many cases about minorities that have gone missing have received national attention?

^^ In what way?

^ I live in Florida. It's mostly hispanic. My input doesn't count.

edited 26th Feb '11 8:19:22 PM by Radd

Well, I just don't think they need to have what's essentially the same conversation in two different threads.

Not that I can exactly stop them, but still.

@Radd I'm a Floridian too and I hardly ever hear about missing Hispanic women.

@Spain Sun I won't argue if she won't.

I maintain my first statement...Any time the defenseless go missing and turn up dead, its a tragedy.

South or North?

Anyway, I always hear about litle girls, of all races. I just figured it was different in different areas.

I can get behind that.

Seeing that stuff, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, sex, orientation, immigrant status, whatever, it's horrible.

@Drunk Is anyone saying it isn't a tragedy? This is about media coverage.

The most widely-known disappearance case I can think of is Daniel Morcombe, a white boy. I think that was more due to an indepentent campaign, with posters and ribbons, than anything the media did, though.

Being white isn't enough, though. The missing woman can't be poor, can't be fat, and can't be plain.

@Morven: for speaking the truth.