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  1. homeculture by Meg ConleyMeg9/21/2118 min
    6 reads3 comments
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    homeculture by Meg Conley
    6 reads
    10
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    • DellwoodBarker2 years ago

      Chilling, effective, powerful. Being unplugged from a lot of news (unless featured on RU) this Gabby/Brian sitch is new to me. I do know this issue covered in the paragraphs below is equally a Major problem here in NM and a high percentage (as I have been told by longtime locals - Native, Mexican, Spanish) happen on Pueblo lands. There was even an episode of the NM filmed Longmire that dealt with the topic rather effectively.

      Many people go missing in Wyoming. According to a study by the University of Wyoming, 710 Indigenous people went missing between 2011 and 2020, 85% of them were children. A majority of them were girls. Many were found, but some were not. It’s difficult to know how many Indigenous People go missing each year because of political and cultural apathy. Organizations like Sovereign Bodies are working to create databases of “missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two spirit people.”

      They are not being helped by the media. 30% of Indigenous homicide victims are covered by the media, compared to 51% of white homicide victims. A mere 18% of Indiginous female murder victims receive media coverage. These lost are joined by an estimated 64,000 Black women and girls missing in America. Last year, the Human Rights Campaign reported that “fatal violence against the transgender and gender non-conforming people” continues to climb.

      Why aren’t we hearing about all of the lost? Some of it has to do with “missing white woman syndrome”, a term coined by Gwen Ifill to describe the media’s disproportionate coverage of missing white women. Of course, white women sometimes go missing without media coverage, especially when they aren’t pretty instagrammers. But they are much more likely to be the focus of a news story. Another issue is the click economy. The news cycle driven is by clicks, once a story proves it commands attention, outlets compete for page views. Who is providing all those clicks? Well, you and me.

      We have a problem but the solution is not to ignore cases like Gabby’s. Of course, that baby girl needed to be found. The solution is to provide better coverage - in every sense of the word - for every person who goes missing. It sounds like a lot. But after witnessing the frenzy around Gabby, it’s impossible to say we are not up to the task. With a 24 hour news cycle and our phones always in our hands, we’ve got the time and the means. But we don’t seem to have the will. Why?

      With major percentage of this being a dark, bracing read I have to highlight the buoyant paragraph of light:

      It’s later now. My twelve year old is sitting on the couch next to me. She’s reading, but its not a murder mystery. It’s a book about about a young inventor on a sea adventure. I am glad. There's been too much murder.

    • Pegeen
      Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
      2 years ago

      Exceptional writing, important topic. I will admit here that I, too, was drawn to this case after reading about it on line. What pulled me in was the irony of “presenting” one’s life on Instagram and the reality behind those pictures. Perhaps it’s the inauthentic life that is so disturbing, the compulsion to create a reality so opposite the pain and suffering one endures. I find social media disturbing, a sick obsession. But I am old and the elders of my generation seemed overly alarmed at the behavior of my 60’s generation. Perhaps it’s all normal to not understand, to feel disturbed. I want to feel hopeful.

    • Alexa2 years ago

      Fascinating read. She weaves several themes together you wouldn't expect to come together as they do.

      Van life, instagrammers, racial justice, domestic abuse, and the weird parasocial relationships being formed online--some rather macabre in nature.