I saw this yesterday, and had been thinking similar things for two or three days.
I kept wondering during those two or three days why Gabby Petito was trending so insistently on Twitter. She can’t be the only missing person in the country, I thought, so why is she trending in particular? I suppose the answer is depressingly obvious and stupid. She’s young, she’s pretty, she’s white, she’s blonde. Give her another 20 years and she wouldn’t have been trending.
So, today –
Comments
13 responses to “Her name was Sabina Nessa”
It is a little facetious to suggest the only factor for why the social media profile is so much larger is race. The simple fact of the matter is that Nessa was an ordinary professional woman, whereas Petito had a very large social media profile that she was actively trying to build.
That said, that is a shocking number of disappearances in Wyoming.
That’s why I said she’s young, she’s pretty, she’s white, she’s blonde. I too think it’s all that, as opposed to just race.
I didn’t know about the very large social media profile though.
“#Americasdaughter”.
I think that demonstrates Ophelia’s point. Would that hashtag ever be used for a woman of color?
Everybody knows America is a white lady. Just look at the statues of her!
Looks green to me.
What gets media attention, what goes viral, resists simplistic, univariate analyses like “four legs good, two legs bad”. Counterexamples abound. Some things do, when the simple analysis implies they won’t. The reverse is also true.
I’m no expert in mass psychology/communication theory, though, so I’m not even going to try to provide a good account. Gotta make do with rejecting the bad ones for now.
I’d be interested to see how that compares in the Twitterverse vs more mainstream media. Different media ecosystems have very different focuses and I’d hazard it’s entirely possible that Sabine Nessa is getting more Twitter attention than Gabby Petite.
I’d heard of neither for what that’s worth.
Cops don’t give a shit about women and girls, with the rare exceptions of pretty white blondes who capture the publics fevered imagination once in a while.
Another case in point…
I know our current Prime Minister Scott “I Lay hands On People” Morrison is in the USA negotiating our acceptance as the 51st state, but this story was all over the news in Oz while scant attention was paid to similar cases in our own backyard. Especially if those cases were not of young, attractive blondes with a huge social media following. And even more so if they were (shudder) Indigenous women.
Black female / aged female / “unattractive” female = invisible.
And I have just come across this story.
One can’t have the scions of wealth and privilege held accountable for their actions.
This manchild is also a junior soccer coach, so I am sure he is instructing his charges in how to deal with uppity women who demand apologies for sexist behaviour.
…a difficult 2020 in which his dog died, a relationship broke down and a family member fell ill.That sounds like a pretty run of the mill year for an adult frankly. I’ve certainly had better years than that, but by golly I’ve a lot that were worse as well. As far as I’m concerned 20 year olds are adults who should be taking responsibility for their lives and actions.
NiV,
Here’s a PDF of a study that provides empirical support for Missing White Woman Syndrome.
Just one study. I have no idea if there are any follow-ups, but it does provide some evidence.
You’ve got to draw a line of responsibility somewhere but I submit for review the idea that a twenty year old (especially a male) is in no way an adult. Doesn’t mean you can’t hold him responsible, but he’s still a stupid child.