I think you misunderstood what I meant… I’m suspicious of certain people truly caring about racialized-sexualized violence if the ONLY time they bring it up is when a white women is murdered.
I agree 100% that racism and misogyny intertwine against women who aren’t white.
I think unfortunately when the victim is ‘pretty’ there is sometimes a prurient, fetishized element in the coverage, too. Especially when the form of murder is especially violent. And yeah, even the phrase “murdered women” or “violence against women” erases the structural misogyny that drives so much of it. Like… who murdered them? A formless cloud? Fate?
Sure. That doesn’t mean it isn’t an actual problem in our society. All women face violence. Some women do face it more than others. I think as a white woman, it’s very important for me to acknowledge that and help bring to light the different ways in which misogyny and racism intersect that do privilege me. Otherwise, I think I’m failing my sisters who are of different races.
I agree. And completely decontextualized from the broader problem of violence against women, as I noted.
I think so too. But I’d also point out that it takes an insidious form again when racism or transphobia becomes a part of it. Then the woman is perceived as being dirty or dangerous because of her attractiveness and therefore less sympathetic. It’s really a cruel intersection where it becomes transparently obvious that the goal of some sources of modern media and the knee-jerk reaction of plenty of individuals one may talk to in a day, is to dehumanize some women to such a degree that the value of their very lives are not considered, like, at all.
I’m not sure even with the most picture-innocent (which in the US sadly means white and wealthy due to racism and classism) pretty victims it’s necessarily motivated by sympathy. Society fetishizes violence against women whether it is the ‘ruin the pure virgin’ or ‘destroy the dirty prostitute’ flavor.
I agree with you that coverage of pretty racial and gender minorities really leans into the ‘evil temptress was asking for it’ angle in a disgustingly racist way.
There is a long history of racialized-sexualized violence against WOC in the US, and historically it often took the form of the ‘jezebel’ stereotype which echoes what you are saying about WOC being perceived as dirty and dangerous “temptresses”. Keep in mind, white male slaveholders also had an economic motive to rape their female slaves since they could then sell the children resulting from those rapes (or if not sold, more free labor.)
Also, white Americans tend to perceive black children as older and less innocent than they are. I’ve heard horrific cases of authorities (including in but not limited to the US, unfortunately) blaming little girls as young as 9 or 10 for ‘tempting’ adult men into raping them, and men murder Black and Latina transwomen at appallingly high rates.
I agree dehumanization is a huge part of it. The inner lives of stereotyped populations are simultaneously denied and homogenized to the point where they’re basically interchangeable at the same time their experiences of prejudice are individualized by others in order to obscure any systemic basis/guilt of wider society. I think it is important to think about dehumanzation of groups of people not just as people discarded/marginalized, but how those with more power benefit from that. For women this often takes the form of how much/what use a man can get out of her… why should a man feel guilty for discarding a malfunctioning appliance?
Part of it goes back to the sacred prostitute problem where women are supposed to be both pure and innocent but also sexually available and willing but also the opposite where men are supposed to be both sexual conquerors but also protectors and rescuers of the innocent virgin.
Good luck all trying the dance that two step.
Now add conservative racism into the mix. Here you have to two step of seeing WOC both as lesser alien beings but also as attractive sexual goals to attain. Go read what conservative men think of Asian or Eastern European wives! (You’ll never need an emetic again.) So pretty, so good as serving and caring housewives… so suitable for a conservative racist WASP guy, wait…what?
I tried to graph this out but I think I need another visit to the Escher museum first
That is how Western (not only the US, believe me) society is utterly confused about the sexuallity of women of color and from this confusion comes the inability to see them as victims or even just humans.
No. it’s about racism and misogyny in America and how if functions right now, today.
The problem when you try to connect phenomenon today with stuff in the ancient past, is that it ignores the specific context, and makes it seem like you can’t solve the problem, because it’s so intractable or just “human nature”… I call bullshit on that. It’s just another means of passing the buck on the hard work that must be done to improve our society.
That is a truly heartbreaking, but also infuriating, story. Let me guess, though. No consequences and little interest in looking into it from the authorities in question? (No, I could not finish the article. Not now. Just can’t.)
I think you are referring to the Madonna and the Whore problem, faced by women every blessed day. Tying it to long-extinct religious practices from ancient Greece (and probably others) makes it seem like an unsolvable and deeply ingrained behavior, when it really is “just” a classic intersection of misogynistic efforts to control women’s sexuality and racism. I think it is safe to say the women are pretty much the authority on this particular issue, being as it is a part of their everyday lives.
Wait… You are denying misogyny and sexism are rooted in ancient culture? You think it was invented in 1783 in the US or something? Yes, it is old and ancient and although the nature of it has changed a lot the roots are pretty much the same. Many of the origins of Western misogyny are found in Rome and Christianity.
But it is NOT in human nature as such and I take serious afront to anybody claiming that is something I said. Many cultures have way better (and some worse…) ways dealing with sex and gender. Some of the worst elements of it in Western culture are quite recent like the cult of domesticity and toxic masculinity.
We (…) can do better because it is NOT nature nor inborn. It is a cultural thing and cultures can change.
And don’t think the Missing White Women Syndrome is typical US American because like racism and misogyny it is everywhere.
Part of the difference could simply be a matter of the ordinary privilege that white people enjoy. If a girl from a white family disappears, the family won’t hesitate to go to the police and media for help. If a girl from a black family or an immigrant family disappears, they are much less likely to trust that no negative repercussions will come on them for asking for help. White family members are probably much less likely to be accused of being involved in the disappearance and they certainly aren’t going to be deported.
I don’t think this explanation is adequate but it is part of the situation.`
(And of course systemic racism is just a made up CRT thing that doesn’t exist. /s)
Firstly, most Native Americans already within the US don’t have to worry about being deported from it. Secondly these are women who were reported missing to the police.
Your argument is getting a little close to victim blaming the families for the negligence of the authorities. If anything there may be more women who haven’t been reported as a result of people giving up on the police and the US, but the ones we know about are cases where the families have clearly tried to engage the police and state authorities.
