top of page
Search

The Evolution of True Crime: The "Missing White Woman Syndrome" and Racial Paranoia

Updated: 2 days ago

(Summarized)

By: June Rowe

Abstract 

When analyzing the history of true crime, the evolution is clear and distinct. There are consistencies present throughout, maintaining a basis of fascination and popularity with the same demographic since its creation. Regardless of everything, the subject matter with young white women at the center will always be given the most attention and screen time. This gives the false impression that they are targeted the most, and are at a higher risk of being victimized than their female counterparts of color. This fear further perpetuates the archetype of the ‘Damsel in distress’. The exploitation of the victims is also present throughout. There is a theme of brutality, gore, violence, and extreme detail at the expense of the victim and victim’s family’s comfort that contributes heavily to the dehumanization of the parties involved. The fear mongering and morbid curiosity that play against each other to create a sensationalized and addictive storyline are key characteristics of the true crime format. There are many factors that contribute to the desire to consume media of this kind, and a clear real life impact. The focus on white women’s victimization has evolved to influence many facets of life, such as film and politics. 


CottonBro Studio
CottonBro Studio

The Psychology of Morbid Curiosity

The popularity of true crime has its root in morbid curiosity; a phenomenon of humans seeking out the very things that terrify us. This is not a recent discovery, and philosophers and psychologists have attempted to deconstruct the motivations behind the stimulation of our survival instincts for fun, amusement, or entertainment for centuries. Aristotle describes the concept of ‘catharsis’ as an act of ridding ourselves of unpleasant emotions. In viewing a tragedy, he argued there would exist a purging of pity and fear. (Weinsheimer, Aristotle: Poetics 1995). The counter-intuitivity of seeking out simulated danger is referred to as the paradox of horror. Simplified into three claims, there is seemingly no logical explanation for morbid curiosity.

  1. Horror and true crime introduce negative emotions.

  2. We avoid negative emotions.

  3. We do not avoid horror and true crime.


These three claims logically cannot all be true simultaneously, but they are (Phelan, 2022). If it is possible that in viewing simulated dangerous situations we then reclaim a sense of power and autonomy, true crime’s popularity is then justified. Aristotle’s concept of catharsis contains a formula essential to understanding morbid curiosity. Things we do not like or desire–when introduced in a safe and secure environment–become things we do like and desire. 

Scenarios that would typically introduce feelings of powerlessness have the opposite effect when they are confronted in a controlled space. 

This formula exists also in Freud’s writing on psychosexuality. The confrontation of emotions that are connotatively negative can sometimes result in an association of connotatively positive feelings. (Freud, Fetishism - overview - psychoanalytic interventions 1927). Things we consider disgusting can become arousing as a method of coping with those same overwhelming feelings of disgust. 


Furthermore, indulging in content that can scare us has potential biological justifications. The act of predator inspection is essential to the survival of an organism. The risks associated with this act are mitigated in the context of true crime and horror content. The dissertation on morbid curiosity by Coltan Scrivner gives insight into this trade:

The costs associated with learning about predators and other threats are high in most of the animal kingdom. In humans, the ability to imaginatively simulate threatening situations has drastically reduced the cost of learning about threats. (Scrivner et al., 2022)

Consuming this content prepares and desensitizes the viewer from the fears associated with its subject matter. This ‘expenditure’ of fear as Freud would refer to it, or ‘catharsis’ as Aristotle would call it has psychological benefits. 


The History of True Crime

Culturally, the concept of criminal reporting has always existed. First through word of mouth, then print and eventually becoming accessible to us at any time through the internet. As technology advances, true crime does as well. At some point in the timeline of human civilization there was a shift from basic news and crime reporting to a sensationalized, focused, less documentary-style approach. What used to be articles written on local crime became dramatizations and romanticization of murderers.  


There is no doubt that the darker and more shocking the content, the more fascinating and lucrative it is. The fear of being the victim of a crime like one described in true crime compounds on itself and creates a standard that never stops being raised. It has to get scarier and scarier, gorier and gorier, more and more shocking. Alex Mcdonald from The Yale Politic writes about the maturation of American culture’s interest in violent media:

The roots of true crime lie in the 1960s, when only half of Americans owned television sets and the political assassinations of leaders like Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the Kennedy brothers, Malcolm X, and the carnage of the Vietnam War took center stage. In the following decades, the emergence of several infamous serial killers—Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and the Zodiac Killer—only made worse the fear that anyone could be the next victim of a brutal, calculated homicide. (McDonald, 2022)


This interest has a low threshold before it approaches exploitation. The ethical dilemmas associated with the production and distribution of true crime are plentiful. From the lens of Utilitarianism–a type of consequentialism that determines the most ethical act to be the one that results in the most pleasure and least amount of suffering–most true crime stories are unethical. The families of the victims are forced to relive their trauma and are typically not financially compensated for use of their story. The details included in these books, podcasts, and videos are intentionally uncomfortable and gruesome. This pain is not worth the potential gain received from the production of this content. 


Now that there has been an evolution from news articles covering local crime to extensive research and detail on every case imaginable readily available on a cellphone, it is more important than ever to avoid the risk of disrespecting the people involved. What once began as daytime television specials on serial killers and their psychology became a type of ‘torture porn’ (Jones, 2013). What was before something you had to seek out at a bookstore or flipping through TV channels is now at your fingertips. The astronomical amount of YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram content on real life murder cases is a testament to the further development of technology. There is nothing you cannot learn about. 


Research Surrounding ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’ 

‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’ is a phenomenon observed by sociologists about the disproportionate coverage of young white women in news. When there is a case of human trafficking, statistically the victim will be a woman of color. This is significant because women of color are not the majority of the population. Regardless of the reality, when there is news coverage on missing persons, more often than not it will be of a white woman. 


This neglect has two major outcomes. The first is a lack of confidence in the safety one has as a woman of color, and the second is white women’s increase of fear and paranoia. The empirical analysis of this effect written by Zach Sommers of Northwestern School of Law states:

Furthermore, the media data can also be evaluated using multiple regression analysis to explore differences in the intensity of coverage that missing persons in the news receive. The results of these two analytic steps suggest that there is indeed empirical evidence to support the perceptions of demographic disparities in abduction news coverage that manifest themselves in two distinct ways. Not only are missing blacks and missing men less likely at the outset to garner media coverage than other types of missing persons, but they also receive a lower intensity of coverage when their stories are, in fact, picked up by news outlets. In other words, there is a two-stage discrepancy that limits the amount of coverage certain types of missing persons receive. (Sommers, 2017)


There is a higher likelihood of a young white woman receiving more media attention for going missing than for a woman of color.


The History of White Women’s Racism

White women have a unique position of power in American society. With the intersectionality of race and gender, they are both empowered by their whiteness and oppressed by their femininity. White women also derive power from their proximity to white male figureheads, having influence over the actions of their brothers, fathers, sons and husbands. As a demographic, white women throughout American history developed a type of weaponized femininity as a way to combat the subjugation they faced at the hands of the men around them. The notions existed of women being lesser than, subservient, and weak and rather than let this prevent them from achieving the things they wanted, they reclaimed the narrative. Stereotypes of them being subservient and weak became a societal standard of men having the responsibility to care for and protect white women. What used to exclusively be justification for misogyny became the reasoning behind these obligations of protection and safety. 


The weaponized femininity is not white women taking advantage of men’s naivety or their desire to protect and provide; despite race, white women are still women and still suffer misogyny and abuse from men and the patriarchy. This femininity is weaponized against people of color. When there is an expectation of people (specifically men of color) to be dangerous or violent, and an expectation of white women to need protection, accusations become death sentences. Once more, this is not manipulation of white men from the side of white women, this is an agreement both sides have entered into. Consistently, women with power in the system of the capitalist patriarchy still work and vote to uphold the very system that subjugates them (Gawronski, 2019).


There are many instances throughout history of white women using their manufactured vulnerability as a weapon against people of color. The 1955 case of Emmett Till is perhaps the most widely known instance of this, as the event is credited with propelling the Civil Rights movement into the public eye. 

Women of color do not benefit from misogyny the way white women do. Oftentimes women of color suffer the same discrimination from white women that they receive from men. Women of color also do not get the same opportunities to harness their femininity for personal gain. This divide makes it difficult for white women to conceptualize the experience of racial discrimination.


Police and Law Enforcement

The justice system has its own birthmarks of racism. The Emmett Till case is proof of this, as voir dire did not prevent an all-white all-male jury from acquitting the men who tortured and lynched the then 14 year old boy. There are many examples of this racism in action. The history of race relations in the country, along with media coverage of perceived Black culture, a misrepresentation of crime data, and racial paranoia leads to pseudo-self deputized citizens taking it upon themselves to engage in crime watch. The trend of white women calling the police on Black people and families while they are existing in public is the result of this. The position white people are in, even in the current day, allows them the power to accuse others and to commit crimes and face little to no consequences. 




The Tie Between Criminal Justice and Journalism

Journalism is a key component in raising awareness and improving the chances of safely locating a missing person. When there is a misrepresentation of statistics, the public perception of crime is affected the most. The place this most aggressively shows up is in politics. Biased reporting and fear mongering contribute to race related paranoia. This surrounds crime, jobs, and immigration. There is little evidence to support the notion that increasing immigration will make things more dangerous for women and children, but the possibility is enough to encourage people to vote for legislation that prevents it. The social repercussions are also ever present. There is no aspect of life for a person of color that is not at least somewhat impacted by race. The dangers of biased journalism that pushes a narrative are difficult to quantify. If there is an attempt to push a narrative, chances are it will be successful. This is especially true for news outlets that have an opinionated viewer base, such as FOX. These viewers also have a propensity to fall victim to cognitive dissonance, and will reject any data or information that does not support the narrative they have chosen to believe. What started as a simple newspaper article, can quickly devolve into something dangerous. 


These Narratives In Fictional Media

In fictional media there has been an observable fascination with violence and crime. Shows like You on Netflix have a strong and consistent supporter base. Films about serial killers are critically acclaimed. Cop shows and police dramas run for decades. The demand for crime related media is impossible to ignore. There are specific examples of race relations seeping into film and other fictional media.


Get Out (2017) was a unique criticism of racial stereotypes. Few other films have ever highlighted the damaging reality of stereotypes, even ones that seem positive. The film follows Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) as he goes home to meet his girlfriend, Rose’s (Allison Williams) family for the first time. By the end of the film we have learned that her family utilizes hypnotism to possess the bodies of Black individuals as a way of achieving immortality and health. Rose’s family specifically targets Black people because of the stereotypes of superior athleticism and physical strength. These are traits that are generally considered positive, yet in this case become harmful and damaging. Similar to the ‘Model Minority’ stereotype that exists for East Asian and Hispanic citizens, the expectation of greatness creates an unrealistic standard. 


Both Get Out (2017) and King Kong (1976) are centered around the juxtaposition of an archetype of a brutish, strong, dark male character and a dainty, soft white female character. The sensationalization of King Kong in the media perpetuated the image of a helpless white woman being victimized by a large Black man, and this was not an accident. Post slavery there was an effort to prevent white women from engaging in romantic and sexual relationships with Black men. A large part of this was the embellishment of Black people’s physical capabilities. The idea that Black people are inherently more physically capable still has damaging effects to this day. This shows up in the medical industry, where the fatality rate for pregnant Black women is higher than any other demographic and people believe Black people have naturally thicker skin or higher pain tolerances. These stereotypes influenced the characters in Get Out to seek out Black bodies. 


Conclusion

It is difficult in any capacity to determine a sole cause of ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome’, if there is one. Many factors contribute to the phenomenon. The position white women have in American society, the history of accusations of misbehavior directed towards men of color, the lucrative nature of true crime content, morbid curiosity; all play a part in the over-reporting of white women’s victimization. It is not enough to hold journalism or the justice system accountable exclusively.  


Bibliography

Datz, L. (n.d.). The real causes of "Missing white woman syndrome" — Syracuse University news. (2021, September 23). SU News. https://news.syr.edu/blog/2021/09/23/the-real-causes-of-missing-white-woman-syndrome/


FBI. (2016b, May 18). Emmett Till. FBI. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/emmett-till


Fetishism - overview - psychoanalytic interventions. Overview - Psychoanalytic Interventions - Freud, Boy, Language- JRank Articles. (n.d.). https://science.jrank.org/pages/9365/Fetishism-Overview-Psychoanalytic-Interventions.html


Gawronski, Raegan M., "White Women and White Supremacy: How and Why White Women Contribute to White Supremacy" (2019). Student Publications. 822. https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/822


Get Out. 2017. Director: Jordan Peele. Screenplay: Jordan Peele. Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams. Genre: Horror. Rating: Rated R.


Inan, I. (n.d.). The philosophy of Curiosity. https://philarchive.org/archive/INATPO-3

Maestripieri, D., Shweder, R., Berman, M. G., Clasen, M., Asma, S. T., & Scrivner, C. (2022, June 1).


The Psychology of Morbid Curiosity. Knowledge UChicago. https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3996?ln=en&v=pdf


McDonald, A. (n.d.). The Yale Politic. An American Obsession https://thepolitic.org/article/an-american-obsession-the-evolving-genre-of-true-crime


Phelan, M. (2022, October 30). The paradox of Horror. LU Philosophy weekly discussion is back. https://blogs.lawrence.edu/philosophy/2022/10/30/the-paradox-of-horror/


Phelan, M. (2022a, October 30). The paradox of Horror. https://blogs.lawrence.edu/philosophy/2022/10/30/the-paradox-of-horror/



Slakoff, D. C. (2019). The representation of women and girls of color in United States crime news. Sociology Compass, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12741


Sommers, Z. (n.d.). Missing white woman syndrome: An empirical analysis of race and gender disparities in online news coverage of missing persons. Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Scholarly Commons. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol106/iss2/4/

Weinsheimer, J. (n.d.).








Comments

bottom of page