THE DOMINANCE of Missing White Woman Syndrome
The Dominance of Missing White Woman Syndrome By Megan Gockley ABSTRACT The following research article investigates the social phenomenon known as Missing White Woman Syndrome (MWWS). The study closely examines two cases of missing young women that both took place in 2021: Gabby Petito and Leivy Rodas. Data collection first began with an investigation into how the two cases were portrayed in the news media. Then, a closer look into how the two cases were presented on social media, focusing on TikTok, using analytics like hashtags and views. The results show a substantial difference between the media’s response to Petito’s case and Rodas’s case. These are not the only two cases that illustrate the dangers of MWWS, but they are compelling examples of how MWWS presents itself in society.
In September 2021, two young women were reported missing. The young women both went missing under strange circumstances, but the treatment of their cases could not have been more different. One woman’s name appeared all over social media and national news’ sites; the other appeared on a few local news stations and selectively on social media. The reason one young woman received such a disproportionate amount of attention is related to the social phenomenon known as Missing White Woman Syndrome (MWWS), and its repercussions for women of color are nearly incomprehensible. According to Leigh (2021), the term ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’ was first used by PBS news anchor Gwen Ifill in 2004. Missing White Woman Syndrome (MWWS) addresses the “overabundance of coverage that mainstream media outlets dedicate to missing persons cases of White women and its correlating lack of coverage of missing people of color” (Moss, 2019, p. 741). This issue is visible nearly daily on social media, especially considering the increasing interest in true crime podcasts, yet it continues to go unrecognized by many. Social media users on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit are especially interested in true crime (Chang-Yeh, 2022). These platforms were particularly relevant during September 2021 due to the disappearance of 22-year-old Gabby Petito. Petito was a young white woman traveling on a road trip with her fiancé at the time, Brian Laundrie. Petito’s family reported her missing after Laundrie returned home, and they did not hear from her (Larkin, 2021). Around the same time in 2021, Leivy Rodas, a 16-year-old Hispanic woman, was also reported missing by the police (Leigh, 2021). At the time, Rodas was last seen at her home in Londonberry Township, Chester County (Wise, 2021). However, other than these simple details, there is a general lack of information about Rodas’ case. Despite the prevailing circumstances of the two cases being similar, Petito’s case received much more media attention than Rodas’ case. During a weekly period in September 2021, the name Petito was mentioned “398 times on Fox News, 346 times on CNN and 100 times on MSNBC” (Barr, 2021). Contrastingly, any information about Rodas’ case is extremely limited to a few local news sites that share the exact minimal details. Petito’s case likely received more coverage because she was a young white woman and Rodas is a young Hispanic woman (Leigh, 2021). As mentioned previously, true crime receives much attention on social media. TikTok has become increasingly popular, especially gaining momentum during the disappearance of Petito. During this time, TikTok videos gained millions of views as TikTok users engaged in discussions and theories about what they thought happened to Petito (Chang-Yeh, 2022). Because TikTok clearly displays its social media metrics, it makes it easy to analyze. For example, it is easy to identify the number of likes, views and comments a particular video or hashtag has received. Because of these factors, TikTok is the ideal social media platform for analyzing Petito’s and Rodas’ cases. Currently, the #gabbypetito hashtag has two billion views on TikTok. One TikTok, uploaded by a user named @alyssaest93, has received 14.7 million views on TikTok (Rose, 2021). Another TikTok, uploaded by a user named @meffqueech, has received 12.2 million views (Chloe, 2021). Additionally, countless other TikToks received anywhere between 30,000 to 500,000 views. E n g a g e for C h a n g e | S P R I N G 2 0 2 3
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