BY MEGHAN BAEHL, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I am in no way criticizing the efforts dedicated to finding Gabby Petito. The slaying of Gabby is a tragedy, no doubt, but so is every other missing person case regardless of race or gender. So why is there such a hyper fixation on her?
My criticism stems from the fact that all the media attention was geared toward her because of the “missing white woman syndrome” phenomenon. This isn’t a new concept. We have seen this with young, pregnant Laci Peterson in 2002 and high school graduate Natalee Holloway in 2005. A youthful and pretty white girl goes missing and gets all the media attention. The racial disparity in the media is a crippling problem with only one conclusion – all missing persons should get the same media attention as Gabby Petito.
I admit that I was following Gabby’s disappearance after it was publicized, considering I had no idea who she was until she went missing. My Instagram was flooded with “Justice for Gabby Petito” stories, raising support for the missing social media influencer. My fyp (for you page) on TikTok was monopolized by true crime junkies reporting on and supplying their own theories on what really happened to her.
Whilst crowdsourced crime-solving is appreciated, every missing-person case should yield the same involvement. One can argue that the reasoning behind the media upheaval is the fact that she is an influencer, but the past has told us that you just have to be pretty and white to tug at America’s heartstrings.
I promise I have no intention of being insensitive, but I want to bring attention to the elephant in the room. Media is a space that is meant for everyone, so why does it seem as though the only focus is on pretty white women when they go missing? The case has received national media coverage, multiple front-page headlines, and the aforementioned social media movement.
Partially to blame is the society of true crime junkies who hyper-fixate on disappearances such as Gabby Petito’s whilst ignoring stories about women of color who go missing. On the other hand, those publishing articles and conducting interviews for news outlets are disproportionately white, which leaves us with yet another case of “missing white woman syndrome.” This is not only a media issue but a societal issue as a whole.
The scariest part about where Gabby was found is that over 600 Indigenous women have been reported missing in the last ten years in that exact area, but there has been no media circus for any of them.
Every missing person case matters, regardless of gender or nationality. No missing person should take precedence over another. The good news is that there is room for change. In an age like ours, I am hopeful that every voice will be heard, not just the one belonging to a pretty dead white girl.
