(White) Women We Love

Parent Cafe
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<p>(White) Women We Love
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 10, 2005; Page A23
<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901729.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901729.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Someday historians will look back at America in the decade bracketing the turn of the 21st century and identify the era’s major themes: Religious fundamentalism. Terrorism. War in Iraq. Economic dislocation. Bioengineering. Information technology. Nuclear proliferation. Globalization. The rise of superpower China.</p>

<p>And, of course, Damsels in Distress.</p>

<p>This is undated family photo released by Marcia Twitty shows Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook, Ala. Holloway has been missing since May 30, when she vanished in Aruba while on a trip with classmates celebrating their high school graduation. The search for Holloway continued on Tuesday, June 7, 2005. (AP Photo/Family photo) (Natalee Holloway Family Photo Via Associated Press)<br>
Every few weeks, this stressed-out nation with more problems to worry about than hours in the day finds time to become obsessed with the saga – it’s always a “saga,” never just a story – of a damsel in distress. Natalee Holloway, the student who disappeared while on a class trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba, is the latest in what seems an endless series.</p>

<p>Holloway assumed the mantle from her predecessor, the Runaway Bride, who turned out not to have been in distress at all – not physical distress, at least, though it’s obvious that the prospect of her impending 600-guest wedding caused Jennifer Wilbanks an understandable measure of mental trauma.</p>

<p>Before the Runaway Bride, there were too many damsels to provide a full list, but surely you remember the damsel elite: Laci Peterson. Elizabeth Smart. Lori Hacking. Chandra Levy. JonBenet Ramsey. We even found, or created, a damsel amid the chaos of war in Iraq: Jessica Lynch.</p>

<p>The specifics of the story line vary from damsel to damsel. In some cases, the saga begins with the discovery of a corpse. In other cases, the damsel simply vanishes into thin air. Often, there is a suspect from the beginning – an intruder, a husband, a father, a congressman, a stranger glimpsed lurking nearby.</p>

<p>Sometimes the tale ends well, or well enough, as in the cases of Smart and Lynch. Let’s hope it ends well for Holloway. But more often, it ends badly. Once in a great while, a case like Runaway Bride comes along to provide comic relief.</p>

<p>But of course the damsels have much in common besides being female. You probably have some idea of where I’m headed here.</p>

<p>A damsel must be white. This requirement is nonnegotiable. It helps if her frame is of dimensions that breathless cable television reporters can credibly describe as “petite,” and it also helps if she’s the kind of woman who wouldn’t really mind being called “petite,” a woman with a good deal of princess in her personality. She must be attractive – also nonnegotiable. Her economic status should be middle class or higher, but an exception can be made in the case of wartime (see: Lynch).</p>

<p>Put all this together, and you get 24-7 coverage. The disappearance of a man, or of a woman of color, can generate a brief flurry, but never the full damsel treatment. Since the Holloway story broke we’ve had more news reports from Aruba this past week, I’d wager, than in the preceding 10 years.</p>

<p>I have no idea whether the late French philosopher Jacques Derrida hung on every twist and turn of the Chandra Levy case; somehow, I doubt he did. But I suspect the apostle of “deconstructionism” would have analyzed the damsel-in-distress phenomenon by explaining that our society is imposing its own subconsciously chosen narrative on all these cases.</p>

<p>It’s the meta-narrative of something seen as precious and delicate being snatched away, defiled, destroyed by evil forces that lurk in the shadows, just outside the bedroom window. It’s whiteness under siege. It’s innocence and optimism crushed by cruel reality. It’s a flower smashed by a rock.</p>

<p>Or maybe (since Derrida believed in multiple readings of a single text) the damsel thing is just a guaranteed cure for a slow news day. The cable news channels, after all, have lots of airtime to fill.</p>

<p>This is not to mock any one of these cases (except Runaway Bride) or to diminish the genuine tragedy experienced by family and friends. I can imagine the helplessness I’d feel if a child of mine disappeared from a remote beach in the Caribbean. But I can also be fairly confident that neither of my sons would provoke so many headlines.</p>

<p>Whatever our ultimate reason for singling out these few unfortunate victims, among the thousands of Americans who are murdered or who vanish each year, the pattern of choosing only young, white, middle-class women for the full damsel treatment says a lot about a nation that likes to believe it has consigned race and class to irrelevance.</p>

<p>What it says is that we haven’t. What it says is that those stubborn issues are still very much alive and that they remain at the heart of the nation’s deepest fears.</p>

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<p>He’s entitled to his opinion, but I frankly don’t give the mass media credit for that much.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, a jerk is just a jerk, and the quest for ratings trumps everything.</p>

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<p>It’s funny, that at some point in the lengthy coverage of nearly all those stories it has been brought up that the media frenzy would not be so intense and prolonged if the victim had not been white, and attractive. I distinctly remember that point being made about Laci Peterson. It went something like, “So what? A guy murdered his pregnant wife! Happens all the time! We wouldn’t be hearing about this day after day if she had been black… or just plain ugly!” So I see this as a recurring theme as persistent as the “white damesel” phenomenon itself. </p>

<p>And of course those stubborn issues are still very much alive and they remain at the heart of the nation’s deepest fears. Just ask Charles Barkley!</p>

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<p>I think the singled out ones have families who are astute about using the media, and rally the community. They put pressure on the media on a slow news day, and it takes off just feeding off itself. There is nothing that the media likes better than a perpetuating story that it can continually report - don’t have to go out there and dredge up news. Media savvy people take advantage of this - i.e. Elizabeth Smart. Connections get your story out.</p>

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<p>evitajr1: I agree. I think these families have whatever it takes to keep these stories front page news. I do think Robinson’s article was an interesting take on these stories; however, he seems to be discounting the more compelling issue here. He should add to his list of “major themes” for this country–here at the turn-of-the-century-- the ever-present [continuing] violence against women.</p>

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<p>the ever-present [continuing] violence against women
which would bring us to why do we put up and even celebrate violent imagery in our entertainment</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.tolerance.org/teens/printar.jsp?p=0&ar=135&pi=te[/url]”>http://www.tolerance.org/teens/printar.jsp?p=0&ar=135&pi=te&lt;/a&gt;
why is one of the top movies this week one where a couple is trying to kill each other and a scene shows the husband kicking his wife in the face while she lies on the ground? ( mr and mrs Smith)</p>

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<p>When I read the title of this thread, my first thought was of the (any color) woman in America who might be most loved, Oprah Winfrey. Maybe it’s only damsels in distress who are supposed to be white, in which case it could be construed as a negative attribute.</p>

<p>Incidently, this same arguement was raised about all of the press that surrounded the blonde little (Swedish?) boy alive on a raft in Indonesia after the Tsunami. I tend to agree that these stories are largely a function of which families are able to most effectively propel the story into the media.</p>

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<p>emeraldkitty: Yes, I just saw Mr.&Mrs. Smith last night and was pretty astounded by that one particular scene. And I’'m really surprised with all the hoopla surrounding this movie, that I haven’t read a thing about the violence (towards her) in that movie. Haven’t yet read the link you provided.</p>

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<p>what a surprise. Another newspaper reporter wailing about how US society is racist, sexist, homophobic. Give her credit for finding a new spin on a tired old refrain.</p>

<p>The fact that its not true shouldn’t really bother anybody. If you believe her whine is true, then a thousand counter-examples won’t suffice.</p>

<p>But for grins, here’s two. In 2002 a missing Bay Area newspaper reporter was on the front pages of the papers and all over the TV stations until her body was found. Murdered by her husband, Luci Houston was black.</p>

<p>A climate of fear gripped Atlanta from 1979-1981 in which a string of kids and young adults were murdered. Widely publicized at the time, Wayne Williams was convicted of some of the murders. In all 30 people were believed killed, all black.</p>

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<p>“why is one of the top movies this week one where a couple is trying to kill each other and a scene shows the husband kicking his wife in the face while she lies on the ground? ( mr and mrs Smith)”"</p>

<p>I agree. When I went to see the new Star Wars, I was appalled and repulsed by both the violence in that film as well as the violence in the trailers including the trailers for Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I was shocked to learn afterward that Mr. and Mrs. Smith is supposed to be a comedy. IMO society is very sick to find that funny.</p>

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<p>"ut for grins, here’s two. In 2002 a missing Bay Area newspaper reporter was on the front pages of the papers and all over the TV stations until her body was found. Murdered by her husband, Luci Houston was black.</p>

<p>A climate of fear gripped Atlanta from 1979-1981 in which a string of kids and young adults were murdered. Widely publicized at the time, Wayne Williams was convicted of some of the murders. In all 30 people were believed killed, all black."</p>

<p>Luci Houston was not a national story. I don’t remember ever reading about her. Meanwhile, Laci Peterson was all over the national news as is the missing girl in Aruba and unlike the newspaper reporter, neither would have qualified as any kind of celebrity nor did they have any strong media connection. </p>

<p>As for the 30 murders in Atlanta, the fact that there were 30 youths killed by an apparent serial killer did make that national news. Thirty deaths can’t be compared to the death of one woman – Laci Peterson and other similar examples of ordinary white women whose deaths put them on the national front page. </p>

<p>To balance things out, about 15 years ago, it took a long time for the media in Detroit to realize that more than 100 youths age 16 and under were being murdered each year in that predominantly black city.</p>

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<p>Appalled by the violence in Star Wars? I guess the trailer violence wasn’t bad enough to keep you from seeing the movie.</p>

<p>You guys aren’t the only ones complaining about the husband-wife violence in the Smith movie. Angelina Jolie, during an interview, said that Brad Pitt was uncomfortable with it. I wonder if that was the truth or just something to say for the media. Jolie and Pitt got paid $20 million each for the movie. I think that would outweight any uncomfortable feelings. And besides, isn’t Jolie’s character a well-trained assassin? If so, I think she could take care of herself. The Smith movie shouldn’t be compared to real domestic violence. I’m 22 years old and have been watching violent movies since I was 4 years old. Even as a kid I knew that some violence in movies just can’t be taken seriously.</p>

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<p>I think the reason would be obvious. It’s the same reason attractive young women are movie and pop stars. And no, they don’t have to be white, but they do have to be attractive and look vulnerable. The majority of the population in the US is of light skin. The media has, and always will, cater to the buying public. It’s entertainment, not news, and it sells advertising. Advertisers want the largest possible audience, so the media outlets cater to the largest possible demographic.</p>

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<p>justin: Yes, and Jolie’s character certainly takes care of herself in that movie–in terms of self defense. But there is one scene in the movie that is really uncomfortable, seems a bit gratuitous (well…okay…maybe that could be said about the whole movie), and goes on just a bit too long–and that’s when Mr. Smith kicks and kicks and keeps on kicking Ms. Smith… a little much, don’t you think? </p>

<p>That you can attend movies and know it’s not real, and know that “violence in movies just can’t be taken seriously” is great. But scenes like that, replayed over and over in various ways in entertainment sends the message that this sort of violence is okay… But I agree that if either one of those stars was uncomfortable with some of the violence in the movie, both are big enough stars that they could have simply said no to some scenes.</p>

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<p>“Appalled by the violence in Star Wars? I guess the trailer violence wasn’t bad enough to keep you from seeing the movie.”</p>

<p>I didn’t see any trailers of the new Star Wars. If I had, I would not have seen the movie. The trailers that I saw were the ones before the Star Wars movie.</p>

<p>The last American movie I had seen was Phantom of the Opera. There were no violent trailers before that.</p>

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<p>I’ll have to see the Smith movie to understand the scene. I just think people need to stop blending reality and fantasy when it comes to violence in movies. But many people are incapable of using common sense.</p>

<p>I’ve never been appalled by violence in movies because I have been watching it since I was very young. It all depends on what you have been conditioned to like and dislike. I had a professor who almost walked out of the theater when she went to see “Collateral.” I just couldn’t comprehend her level of disgust with it, and that movie isn’t as violent as most similar movies.</p>

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<p>I don’t know or care if it has to do with white women (and I’m not a white woman). What I do care about is the lack of coverage of world news at the expense of these stories. Look at the coverage on BBC and compare it with say CNN in the US. We’re so obsessed with Lacy Peterson, Natalee Holloway, Gary Condit and the intern (forget her name) etc that the news media will not cover other important events around the world. We go abroad and are immediately embarrased by how little we do know compared to middle-class people in other countries.</p>

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<p>And I’m also embarassed when I see FOX news coverage running on Indian TVs…and my Indian relatives ask me questions in amusement about who the hell Lacy Peterson is or why does it matter that she disappeared and the whole nation will not spend a minute without thinking of her predicament, when say South Korea has violent protests in the streets and that’s not covered on FOX.</p>

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<p>What really bothers me is the small number of white female “alleged” abductees who claim that their kidnappers were Hispanic or Black males. </p>

<p>The “Runaway Bride” claimed that an Hispanic male and his white girlfriend kidnapped her. The woman in the Carolinas that drowned her children claimed that she was kidnapped by a black man. Here in Michigan a white woman was on the news last year claimed she was kidnapped by a black man when, in truth, she was escaping an abusive relationship and ran back to Kentucky or Tennessee…</p>

<p>I wonder why these women never blamed skinheads…</p>

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<p>that is really disturbing as well michuncle
I have been visiting with my sister in law who lives in semi rural Indiana and we have been discussing the differences between urban Seattle and Granger/SouthBend.
She is Latina, and I have been stunned by her experiences teaching in the public schools and living in an upscale area. ( as well as her 7 yr old daughter who is the only Hispanic in her elementary school)
Apparently the KKK is still visible and active :(</p>