So I’m new here and this is the first thing I felt the urge to make a post about, because it’s a topic with a lot of nuance and it’s frustrating to try and compress my thoughts into a short Twitter soundbite.
My argument in a nutshell: the right place and time to bring up “missing white woman syndrome” is not when a missing white woman does get publicity, but when a missing woman of colour does not get publicity. The problem is not that missing white women do get publicity; the problem is that missing women of colour do not get publicity. So why frame the issue as if missing white women who get publicity are the problem? We don’t want to take the spotlight off missing white women - we want to put it on missing women of colour as well as white women.
In fact, the name “missing white woman syndrome” is problematic in itself: it puts the focus on the fact that missing white women are getting publicity, rather than the fact that missing women of colour are not getting publicity. I’d much rather call it something like “missing women of colour getting ignored syndrome”. Not as catchy, perhaps - but it’s a more accurate representation of the actual problem.
The current outrage about “missing white woman syndrome” is largely not doing anything to help give more publicity to missing women of colour. As many Ovarit users have already pointed out, most of those who are complaining about “missing white woman syndrome” are not naming any cases of missing women of colour. They are trying to take the spotlight off a white woman rather than trying to put it on women of colour. This serves no one other than men who want us to shut up about male violence - which is probably why white male liberals support it.
Rather than bringing up “missing white woman syndrome” when a white woman goes missing, those who claim to care about women of colour should bring it up when a woman of colour goes missing. They should make an active effort to publicise cases of women of colour going missing and criticise the lack of media coverage of these women’s cases. This would be far more respectful to missing women of colour, since they would actually be getting publicity in their own right, rather than only getting publicity as a by-product of a missing white woman getting publicity.
Right now, I feel like missing women of colour are being used as tools to drive a wedge between women along racial lines. There should not be a competition for media attention. Male violence is our common enemy, and we all have an interest in publicising the tragic consequences of male violence against women of all races. Women of colour deserve better than being trotted out as a tool to divert attention when a white woman goes missing. People who really care about women of colour should prove it by bringing up the issue in its own right, rather than only bringing it up when a white woman goes missing.