American Media’s Obsession With Missing White Women Pushes Women of Color Further in The Margins

Here’s an idea: Let’s focus on finding them all. Every single one.

A teddy bear sits next to a flyer asking for the return of Gabby Petito, who is missing. Image: Getty

The sad story of Gabby Petito’s disappearance resurrects a timely and much-needed discussion about the inequity of media coverage when it comes to missing women and girls of color. And that discussion is all about how American mainstream media bias further marginalizes non-White women and girls and puts their safety at risk.

Over the weekend, FBI agents and police found a body “consistent” with the description of Petito, a 22-year-old missing White woman whose disappearance has deservedly garnered global attention. Her case is truly heart-wrenching and a clearly devastating loss for her family and friends. The nation is rightfully focused on helping her family and finding her. At the same time, I can’t help but notice the continued trend among mainstream American media that focuses primarily on missing White women, while thousands of Black and other women and girls of color go missing daily. Their stories go uncovered.

Incidents of violence targeted toward women of color and vanishing Black and Brown female bodies tend to be met with silence and complacency. So much so that researchers refer to the inequity in media…