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June 16, 2005

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Now that the racism layer has been peeled, who's going to complain about the inherent sexism? Don't men ever go missing?

Now that the racism layer has been peeled, who's going to complain about the inherent sexism?

The FBI stats cited above discuss the fact that MORE men than women go missing, so it is sexist as well as classist and racist.

Now that the racism layer has been peeled, who's going to complain about the inherent sexism?

The FBI stats cited above discuss the fact that MORE men than women go missing, so it is sexist as well as classist and racist.

The FBI stats cited above discuss the fact that MORE men than women go missing, so it is sexist as well as classist and racist.

Guess we hit the trifecta, huh?

...and who's going to worry about the missing unattractive, I ask you?

Consider there to be a smiley-face somewhere in my first post, Edward. Good point, though.

...and who's going to worry about the missing unattractive, I ask you?

Only our mothers. ;-(

I gotta say, I couldn't care less who this woman is, any more than I care about any of those other women I've either never heard of, or whose names I've seen mentioned as crime victims, which I've then gone on to, as is always the case with simple crimes that don't affect a larger issues, completely ignore.

Advocating more, but less racist, nonsense, is still advocating nonsense, and life is to short for me to care about fires, murders, car accidents, kidnappings, littering cases, jaywalkings, mass murders, or whatever hell else local tv and tabloids care about. Focusing on that crap hurts America. Stop hurting America.

Your empathy is whelming, Gary.

I remember reading an article during the Laci craze. At approximately the same time a pregnant Latina woman was found dead off the coast of San Francisco and the national media was not interested. Never heard another word about her.

I mean, the capacity for caring about another human being in pain or need is sort of kind of what's supposed to spur people to, oh, I don't know, give money to a stranger over the Internet so he can continue eating, or posting his meandering thoughts to said Internet, or whatever.

Ah, well. If I ever run across one of those, since it doesn't affect larger issues, I'll ignore it. And urge others to ignore that sort of nonsense as well. Wouldn't want to encourage people to support nonsense. It hurts America.

Who are you talking to Gary?

I advocated what Drum advocated...finding something else to fill the airtime with.

In the first hours, and perhaps days, the media exposure can aid in finding missing persons. After that, it's unlikely to help much (because we're unlikely to find them alive). For that reason, I think the media coverage of abductions is a good thing, as long as it doesn't continue for weeks on end. However, the fact that it can help (so much that police often try to get the media in on the act) makes it all the more imperative that we eliminate racism and sexism from the coverage.

Gary, that's precisely the point, though. Attractive young white women seem to the networks to be more easily tied to more general problems.

Laci Peterson? A representative of pregnant victims of philandering husbands.

Chandra Levy? A representative of those innocent interns savaged by corrupt Washington insiders.

The cases--as are most cases of disappearance, abduction, or murder--are shocking in themselves, but because the parents are involved and have resources, because the victim resonates with the dominant culture's standards of beauty and worth squandered, the story gets play.

Certainly puts Michael Jackson's fascination with whitening in perspective.

(ducks)

You know what I think it is? And this also ties into racist and sexist assumptions. I think there is a general feeling, on the part of both the media and viewers, that certain people are less capable of taking care of themselves than others, and the less-capable ones are the ones who draw the most "human interest" coverage - Terri Schiavo over non-PVS folks, fetuses over viable humans, missing white women over missing women of color... it all seems to fit that pattern. I do believe there's a perception at work that, perhaps because of the daily battles faced by women of color on both the sexism and racism front, that they're "inherently" more self-reliant than white women.

Chandra Levy? A representative of those innocent interns savaged by corrupt Washington insiders.

DEMOCRATIC Washington insiders was the point in that case I believe.

To there credit, The Today Show had Tamika's dad on yesterday.

ps. Great blog! Great writing Edward.

And please.......a bigger picture of the kitten must be made available!

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