The Strange Saga of JonBenet Ramsey
So they caught the guy who did it, did they? Hmmm. I will be very interested to know why this pedophile, intent on sexually molesting a little girl, broke into the Ramsey's mansion, sat down on the stairwell, and casually penned a three-page ransom note (with several drafts), asking for the princely sum of $118,00 to kidnap a billionaire's daughter. $118,000!!!!! Hardly seems worth getting out of bed for, much less risking the death penalty.
Oh, and he "forgot" to kidnap her. Curious.
The case has been of interest to me over the years since it centers on my research specialty, representations of corpses of dead women. I'm not so much intrigued by the who-dunnit--which according to everything I have read points to a very mundane case of parental child-abuse and an astonishingly amateurish cover-up--as I am by the why-do-we, as in why do we care about this child murder, devoting hundreds of hours of airtime to it, and not about all of those other thousands of unsolved child murders that have occurred before and since?
The answer is simple and painful and revealing: racism, sexism, and classism.
We love beautiful dead girls. Beautiful dead white girls, that is, since whiteness corresponds to our construction of beauty in the United States. And we love girls, not women, for our current construction of femininity dicates that the ideal female be passive, silent, small, wrinkle-free, fat-free, and most of all, powerless.
JonBenet could not fit this description any more perfectly, and that's why any of us have ever heard of her, keep hearing about her, have never stopped looking at pictures of her or thinking about her. She's the eroticized corpse that sells soap; she's the sexualized girl who promotes the fantasy of youthful beauty. All of those pictures of her, dressed up, smiling, performing, ingratiating, fit perfectly into our sexist insistence that women exist only to please, to be looked at, to serve.
As I was researching the case for an article, I was constantly asked "how could her mother do that to her?" These people never meant "how could her mother have become so incensed at her wetting the bed that she clocked her with a flashlight and killed her?" even though this is the scenario most of the detectives involved found the most plausible. Apparently bed-wetting is the number one cause of child abuse. And most children are killed by their parents, not some strange monster lurking in Thailand. (Just like most women are killed by their partners, not some mystery man on the street.)
No, these people who asked how her mother could have "done" that to her were expressing shock and disgust at the fact that her mother dressed her up cute. That her mother. dressed. her. up. cute.
The hypocrisy of this never failed to amaze me. I live in a country where we expend prodigious resources on encouraging females to make themselves as beautiful as possible and to curry male favor above all else. It worked for her mom. She was a Miss America contestant who snagged herself a rich hubby. Thought that was the American Dream! For girls, I mean. You see, we're part of the get-a-house-and-wife-and-kids-and-other-stuff formula. We're not the getters, we're the got. To be an American is to be a man.
So her mom had the time and the money to make her girl into a male's prize possession, with super expensive ball gowns and formal wear and sports wear and SO WHAT? Everybody acted like she dressed her up like a hooker, which she didn't, and made her turn tricks, which she didn't. JonBenet looked like a lady who lunches, a rich socialite, when she wasn't in some stupid costume like the "cowboy's sweetheart" dress, all flouncy and poofy. "I want to be a cowboy's sweetheart," she warbles off tune. Well of course she does. If she didn't, everybody would run around calling her a dyke.
We scapegoated that image of femininity she represents, one in which the we encourage the girl to be a heterosexual cutie-pie, as if we don't do this every single day on our own, in our own ways, as if we don't give Disney princess-parties, don’t give toddler females their own “vanity” tables, don't wrap little lace bands around the heads of infant girls. That one slays me. Hey, hope nobody mistakes this future sex object for a male! Look, it’s a girl! Why does it matter when you are one month old?
The majority of missing people in this country are black males. But cheesecake images of Natalee Holloway fill the airwaves. We’ve allowed men and women of color to be thrown away; we allow ourselves be entertained by the eroticized images of young white women. I long for a day when instead of this we value all people equally, as our country purports to do. I long for a day when we value females for our strengths and not for being young, powerless, pleasing, blonde and dead. SLEEPING BEAUTY, IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!!
Comments
Okay, I've had it! You really have to develop some sort of online distance learning intro to feminism course. Be a patriot! Teach America Feminism.
Posted by: Alison | August 17, 2006 06:35 PM
I was just thinking about that today! It's on the to-do list for sure. Thanks for reading.
Posted by: Diana | August 17, 2006 06:44 PM
"The Adventures of Dr. Diana" is a lot like the spam from Nigeria. Some days you're astonished that anyone would fall for such nonsense. Other days you just have to take a minute to be entertained by the bad grammar and fanciful stories.
Diana, if you think you're a good writer, ask a few random people to read your post aloud to you.
Posted by: Lev | August 17, 2006 08:19 PM
Lev,
Find something else to read if you think this is just badly written nonsense. Why do you visit this site and waste your time commenting? Don't you have better things to do with your time? No need to answer, unless of course you really don't have anything better to do than to respond to comments on a site that you don't enjoy reading. And by the way, getting your anger out on Diana, for whatever it was that happened in your life that made you this way, is very immature.
P.S. Diana, maybe it's time to start blocking certain IP addresses...
Posted by: lorrain | August 17, 2006 08:58 PM
I'm sorry, I couldn't read the whole post. Once you mentioned her name, like many other American men I became involved in the fantasy of little Jonbenet. She was so young, so pure, so untouched by dirty men and gross older women (like her mother). If I were a "former schoolteacher" (as the suspect is being referred to) I don't know how I would keep my hands off a hot piece of ass like that.
What? Someone is offended by such talk? Then maybe they can explain why, if not to sexualize their prepubscent daughter, was she dressed up like a Texas hooker and paraded around to be looked at? Yeah, thought so.
Thanks to the American media, we can all get in on this uber-fantasy once again! Nevermind wars, government spies, or high gas prices, we have the corruption of proto-porn stars to worry about!
As for Lev... that looks like a comment typed with one hand. Bet I know where the other one is.
Posted by: Z | August 18, 2006 12:37 PM
MSNBC just had this "breaking news": John Mark Karr will be landing at LAX in nine hours. Also he has had chardonnay and prawns on the plane on the way over. These breathtaking facts were accompanied by a live shot of LAX. Where he isn't. And not that it matters, but he didn't commit the crime, either.
Other than that, good job MSNBC! Saved us from having to think about Iraq and global warming for a few more minutes--hours--days--months--years....
Posted by: Diana | August 20, 2006 12:27 PM
Dr. Blaine, I agree with you whole heartedly, this fool, John Mark Karr, is getting way too much press. Of course I rely heavily on the media for my information, also browse the supermarket tabloids. I am in the camp that suspects brother, Burke, sheltered by Momma Patsy who of course was living her past through Jon Benet. JMK must not read the tabloids or he would know what happens to pedophiles in prison, unless he is a super masochist! There was also a passing comment on CBS that he may have some gender issues. This guy could be a latent female, seeking domination.
Posted by: Bushman | August 20, 2006 06:24 PM
Enhanced 911 tapes from that evening reveal Burke's voice asking "what did you find?" and the parents yelling at him to go back to bed. He didn't kill her.
Plus the Ramseys told the police the next day that Burke never woke up the night before so these tapes reveal they either lied or forgot something pretty unforgettable, like your other child stumbling upon you calling the police because your daugher has been kidnapped.
Thanks for reading, as always!
Posted by: Diana | August 20, 2006 09:00 PM
Diana, do you sleep at night. I picture you wandering around your home thinking of ways to defy society. I imagine you pacing, pen in hand, images racing through your mind, so much that you can barely write them down in time. I wonder what fuels such dedication. Could it be passion, maybe? Or could it be feeling’s of self doubt or inadequacy. I wonder what drives you. Could it be anger, maybe? I haven’t figured that part out yet, I’ll let you know.
I took notes when I read this article. I noted everything that you added or stretched into this story. From your comments about racism, sexism and classism, to your comments about how America loves girls not women, to your stretched comparison between a bunch of missing black gang-bangers to a young, innocent, helpless and vulnerable teenager. I pulled out at least 18 (eighteen) sentences that were stretched into your story that were either false, or manipulated into this by your own skewed perception. I have to tell you, you are losing credibility.
America only survives today because the “majority” of people find ways to get along in society. Go ahead and write, think, and behave how you want, it’s gotten you this far. But there will come a day when you will be sick of alienating yourself from everyday life.
Posted by: B from MN | August 20, 2006 11:28 PM
VERY well said!
There is something REALLY odd about this case and the treatment of the alleged perpetrator. Could he have some 'inside' information that will shed new light on Patsy or another member of the family?
Posted by: Susan Reed | August 21, 2006 08:11 AM
It reminds me a little of the Paula Jones case: Paula supposedly knew some distinguishing characteristic of Bill Clinton's, errr, anatomy--- and that was supposed to prove her story.
The only thing is, perhaps Paula found out about the characteristic some other way. Same goes for Karr. Perhaps, for some unknown reason which is too unpleasant to think about, he became familiar with JonBenet's (supposedly) distinguishing characteristic. Like, perhaps, he knew one or both parents. Just because he knows the secret, that doesn't prove he found out about while murdering her.
It is highly unpleasant to have this story re-emerge. This is one of those unsolved cases which was better left unsolved...
Posted by: Timothy Horrigan | August 21, 2006 08:57 AM
Well said.
Posted by: jo(e) | August 21, 2006 02:16 PM
Beautiful Dead Girls
Mon Aug 21, 2006
We hear a lot about beautiful dead girls in the US media. Here are some
that we haven't heard about much. Their smiles haven't been plastered
over the supermarket tabloid press, and they're not likely to be. One
of the reasons is that they don't fit the popular stereotype of
beautiful-woman-as-helpless-victim.
***
Here, in no particular order, are some American heroes who were killed
in combat in Iraq:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/21/201719/923
Posted by: John | August 22, 2006 10:17 AM
Diana: Don't let subliterate freepers hurt your feeling's.
Posted by: Hattie | August 24, 2006 02:00 PM
Hattie,
Why does "feeling's" have an apostrophe? Explain it to a subliterate....
John
Posted by: John | August 25, 2006 12:16 PM
Hattie, re-read her story and call me a "subliterate" again, I could use another laugh. I'm not a freeper but maybe it's something I should consider.
Posted by: B from MN | August 25, 2006 10:45 PM
I love this post. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable, of course, because we don't want to admit that our beauty ideal is a 10-year-old girl with breast implants, but tough shit. It's time to pull back the curtain and deal with it.
Posted by: Shell | August 26, 2006 01:15 PM
OUR beauty ideal? who are WE exactly? the people most offended by this website are people who don't buy into that crap and have already dealt with it. the people who need to deal with these issues are usually the ones harping on about it.
Posted by: yawn.... | August 26, 2006 07:37 PM
Re: By yawn - ...the people who need to deal with these issues are usually the ones harping on about it.
"Yawn", indeed.
Posted by: John | August 27, 2006 02:54 PM
Actually, I think it's mostly women that are obsessed with the Jon Benet case (like Dr. Blaine). I get the sense that many women want to be the detectives and "solve" the case. Most men don't give a damn. If you want to test this, why don't you take a poll in your class Dr. Blaine? First ask the women to raise their hands if they find the case interesting. Then ask the men.
Posted by: Juno | August 27, 2006 05:06 PM
Far from being obsessed with JonBenet Ramsey, the point of my scholarship from the beginning was that this death does not warrant the attention it receives.
My research addresses why the culture obsessively portrays women as dead. I first noticed this in graduate school when three novels in one seminar all prominently featured female corpses. I waited for the professor to address this. He never did. So I began to educate myself as to what all of this could mean. I simply call attention to what is right in front of us and examine the values that these images reflect. And yes, you are right, there are obviously huge gender implications, but the effects are not felt exclusively by women.
Posted by: Diana | August 27, 2006 05:40 PM
Let me guess, your professor had you read “The Awakening” by Chopin and “Daisy Miller” by Henry James (groan). Henry James was obsessed with women because he wanted to be a woman himself. Kate Chopin lived a tough life and likely projected her own misery and desperation onto her character. However, I would argue that perhaps the primary reason some artists use female corpses and female death is simply because the mass death of males, mostly male soldiers, has been portrayed in countless movies and books, and the emotional impact of the dead male is lost - whereas a dead or dying female or child can still be shocking. Have you ever tallied the actual number of dead males vs. females in a random sample of literature or film? Do you ever honestly consider alternative hypotheses?
Posted by: Juno | August 28, 2006 01:23 AM
the mainstream media (not necessarily synonymous with our culture, i hope)spends a lot of time on the jon beney story to distract the public from real issues that it doesnt want to cover. and look at how it works.
Posted by: yawn | August 28, 2006 01:39 PM