Othering Against Black Women in the Media Today by Jennifer Simms

Jennifer Simms 

Ms.Harris 

ENGL 2016-44378

3 December 2021


Othering of Black Women in the Media Today


Othering is best explained as wrongfully being defined or labeled as not fitting in within the norms of a group. Society has a disturbing tendency to treat Black Women as lesser than White Women. You can blaintantly see this Othering depicted in the media. On a daily basis is it extremely common to see an average of 5-10 cases on your feed, of white women who have been reported as missing. On the other hand, it is statistically and historically proven that black women do not get nearly as much help or attention when in the same, or even worsened situations. Media outlets used to spread awareness include but are not limited to your local and national news, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok. 

In August of 2021, Gabby Petito, a 22 year old white woman went missing after taking a cross country trip with her boyfriend. Once her case hit the media, it was known coast to coast. She was the spotlight of multiple segments on national news. There are now over 1.8 Billion views under the hashtag #gabbypetito on Tik Tok. There are also over 30,000 Facebook users who have posted using the same hashtag #gabbypetito. Millions of Americans were interested in her case, stalking her social media for clues about her disappearance, traveling hours across state lines to look for her themselves. 

Have you ever heard the name Destini Smothers? She was a 26 year old Black woman, who also went missing while traveling with her boyfriend. Her disappearance was in November of 2020, and when reported, she did not appear on national news outlets, nor did She get breaking news segments on Television. Her disappearance was barely looked into by her own local authority. Today there are only 20,000 views under the hashtag #destinismothers on Tik Tok, which is 1,799,980,000 less than Gabby Petitio. 

As if the media coverage was not enough, Gabby’s body was found the next month after her disappearance and Destini’s body was not found until 5 months later. Gabby’s body was found because of the mass amount of people searching for her. On the other hand, Destini’s body was found when a tow truck driver found her body in the trunk while looking for a spare tire. It is sickening to see, and sickening that it has been continued for years.

Dating all the way back to the 1830’s, Maria Stewart, abolitionist and women’s rights activist, poses a grieving question. “How long? How long before Black women’s humanity would be recognized, and until they would be invited in as citizens of the democracy?” Yet Harmony Adams, Hazana Anderson, Karyn Anderson, Yasmin Acree, Jada Cyrus, and Anya Washington are all Black Women who still have yet to receive any coverage on their missing persons cases reported in 2018. 

The Othering shown through the power of social media is nothing new, but very old. The blatant racism and white supremacy expressed by every social media outlet is only growing day by day. It was never okay to only provide help to missing White Women. It will never be okay to ignore and continue to oppress Black women who are just as deserving of being treated like they matter. Please understand while multiple white women are covered on all of your daily socials and local news, there's too many Women of Color who need you to do more and spread awareness for their justice.


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