CONTINUUMS OF WORTH: A NEWSPAPER DECONSTRUCTION OF MISSING CANADIAN WOMEN by Emma Gayler Bachelor of Arts, Brock University, 2005 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of Sociology and Anthropology © Emma Gayler 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2008 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Emma Gayler Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Continuums of Worth: A Newspaper Deconstruction of Missing Women Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Hannah Wittman Assistant Professor of Sociology Dr. Wendy Chan Senior Supervisor Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Dorothy Chunn Supervisor Professor of Sociology Dr. Margaret Jackson External Examiner Professor, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University Date Defended/Approved: II S 1M 0 N f: RA S E RUN IV r, H S 11' '{ Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the pUblic at the "Institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies, It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2007 ABSTRACT This thesis analyses how the print media represents the problem of missing women in Canada. Using an open and reflective feminist discourse analysis, I examine 240 newspaper articles from 11 major Canadian newspapers from April, 2006 to April, 2007. Guided by a feminist intersectional framework, my research posits that missing women are placed along continuums of worth according to how they perform 'appropriate' femininity. Four key identity factors emerged as central to women's constructed identity: motherhood, association to criminal/deviant behaviour, class position and racial identity. The findings of this project reinforce the use of moralising discourses throughout news coverage of missing women and serve to affirm, or refute, a woman's worth as a victim. Keywords: gender, media, moral regulation, victimisation, 'appropriate' femininity III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my Senior Supervisor, Dr. Wendy Chan, for her constant guidance and support through this research process. Her insight and grounded attitude helped make this both a challenging and rewarding experience. To my second Supervisor, Dr. Dorothy Chunn, and also Dr. Margaret Jackson, thank you for your thought-provoking questions and insightful comments; you both encouraged me to push the boundaries of my analysis, allowing for a deeper understanding of my research. I would also like to thank my peers in the graduate program for their constant support throughout this process. Thank you especially to Aazadeh, Heather, Eagan, Francoise, Kirsten and Hilal for your kind words, friendship and editing expertise. This experience would not have been the same without all of you. To all my parents and family- thank you so much for your support, encouragement and phone calls. You helped me to believe in myself and my abilities, and always knew the right words, at the right time, to sustain me on this journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents iv List of Tables vii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Missing Women in Canada 1 Purpose and Direction of Research 3 My Position as a Feminist Researcher .4 Chapter Outlines 6 Chapter 2: Women and Victimisation in Canada: A Literature Review 8 Criminal Victimisation of Women in Canada 9 The General Social Survey and the Violence Against Women Survey 9 Aboriginal Women and Experiences of Violence in Canada l3 Women in the Sex Trade and Experiences of Violence 17 Violence Against Women in the Media 22 Women's Victimisation in the Media 23 Women of Colour and Experiences of Violence within the Media 25 Missing Women in the Media 28 Summary of Chapter 30 Chapter 3: Method.ology 32 Theoretical Perspective and Conceptual Framework 32 Feminist Intersectionality 33 Conceptual Framework 39 Methodological Frame.work 55 Discourse Analysis 55 Research Questions 57 Data Sampling/Sources 57 Data Analysis 60 Benefits and Limitations of Study 60 Chapter 4: Quantitative Analysis 63 Number of Items by Newspaper 63 Type and ungth of Articles 64 Who Speaks for Missing Women? 65 v Article Categories 67 Themes Found within Factual Articles 70 Criminality and Deviant Behaviour 71 RacelEthnicity 72 Themes Found within Call-for-action and Human Interest Stories 73 Summary of Chapter 76 Chapter 5: Qualitative Analysis 78 Motherhood 78 Introductions of Missing Mothers 78 Mothers and 'Out of Character' Behaviour 80 Discourses on 'Good Mothering' 82 Murder of Pregnant Women as 'Most Horrendous' 85 Mothers and Worth 86 Criminality and Deviance 87 Introduction as a Criminal or Deviant Woman 87 Involvement in the Sex Trade and lilicit Drug Use 88 Alcohol as Deviant 93 Hitchhiking as Dangerous 95 Speaking for Themselves: Two Women Respond to Deviant Labels 96 Search Efforts of 'Worthy' versus 'Unworthy' Missing Women 97 Criminal and Deviant Women and Worth 99 Class Position of Missing Women 100 Women in Poverty: Making Women 'Knowable' 100 Differential Treatment According to Class Position 104 Class Position in Relation to Other Identity Factors 106 Racial Identity and Ethnic Background 108 Omission and Inclusion of Racial Identity 108 Aboriginal Identity and the Canadian Context.. 111 Looking Critically at the Inclusion of Racial Identity 112 Summary of Chapter 114 Chapter 6: Conclusion 116 Summary of Findings 117 Future Considerations 121 Appendices: 123 Appendix A: Coding of Articles 123 Appendix B: Article In-Text Referencing Guide 125 Appendix C: Data Sources 126 Reference List 138 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1 Newspapers Selected for Study 58 Table 4-1 Total Articles According to Newspaper 63 Table 4-2 Total Articles by Type 64 Table 4-3 Who Speaks for Missing Women 66 Table 4-4 Total Articles by Newspaper and Category 69 Table 4-5 Missing and Found Status of Women 71 Table 4-6 Articles Mentioning Women's Criminal and Deviant Behaviour 72 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Missing Women in Canada On January 22, 2007, the media ban concerning the arrest and forthcoming trial of Robert Pickton, an individual who faces the most murder charges in Canadian history, was lifted, and the details of what is believed to have happened to six women began to emerge. Almost one year later, Robert Pickton was found guilty for the second-degree murders of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Lee Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Ann Wolfe, Mamie Lee Frey and Georgina Faith Papin. Currently, Robert Pickton is charged with the murders of twenty additional women from a neighbourhood of Vancouver referred to as the Downtown Eastside. The majority of the women that Robert Pickton is accused of killing were involved in the sex trade and used illicit drugs. This trial has alerted members of the Canadian public to the disappearances and deaths of women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, while also calling attention to the shared experiences of violence faced by marginalised women across Canada. Through the attention that this trial has received, many advocacy groups from different areas of the country have been given the platform to speak of their missing and murdered women, including groups from Northern British Columbia, Edmonton, Calgary, and the Niagara Region. The media coverage of this trial was extensive and many Canadian newspapers published daily articles informing readers as to the trial's progress. The beginning of the trial also saw reporters from many different countries in attendance. This is in stark contrast to the media attention that the initial disappearances of these women received, which often focused on the families' pleas for police action as opposed to searching for the missing women themselves. Many of the missing women were not officially listed as missing for years after their last sighting. Friends and family members came forward to raise complaints that the police did not take the disappearances of many women seriously and were hesitant to officially recognise the women as missing.