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We haven\u2019t even made it a full week into 2023, and already there\u2019s a controversial TikTok trend making its rounds. It involves collecting nail clippings, fingerprints, and single strands of hair. Really. It seems white women are taking to the social app to proudly display their latest DIY project: DNA binders packed with self-curated forensic evidence, just in case they go missing.<\/p>\n
TikTok content creator @savor.it.all, whose seven-part series garnered millions of views and seemingly kicked off the viral moment, documented the entire morbid DIY process<\/a>. Her own \u201cIn Case I Go Missing\u201d binder includes private medical records, names and contact information of friends and family, and even a cheek swab preserved in a plastic baggie, among other personal items.<\/p>\n As is the case with any trend, critics are also chiming in. Some are poking fun at this next-level obsession with true crime (\u201cGirl are you okay,\u201d reads one comment on the original video), while others are taking a more pragmatic approach, sharing that a single strand of hair wouldn\u2019t actually be enough for DNA testing if the root is missing; and that misplacing or losing this packed binder could prove detrimental due to the inclusion of sensitive information.<\/p>\n \u201cI came here to say this is insane behavior,\u201d TikToker Riley\/@frogmommyyy (also a white woman<\/a>), who stated that she has a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminology and forensic science and is currently pursuing her master\u2019s degree in forensic medicine, said in a stitched response video<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s a special brand of white woman who loves true crime and is therefore obsessed with being a victim of a violent crime. And it\u2019s insane and it\u2019s bad for your mental health, so don\u2019t do this. This is weird.\u201d<\/p>\n Another TikToker, Misha\/@mishalema, shared her own theory<\/a> on why she believes this trend is being perpetuated by white women specifically. \u201cWhite women are so attracted to the true crime genre because in a culture where they are rapidly losing social clout and being held more and more accountable for their actions, true crime is one of the few places left that they can experience true victimhood and center themselves,\u201d she said, citing the relatively recent societal push to uplift POC voices and promote diversity. She continued, \u201cTrue crime is a place they can go where they not only get the attention and the clout that they\u2019ve been hemorrhaging in larger society, but they can claim a true, genuine sense of victimhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Misha also pointed out the disproportionate coverage of and interest in crimes with white victims versus BIPOC victims compared to the actual statistics<\/a>. \u201cEven though women of color are more likely to be victims of violent crime, it\u2019s always been a running joke that Black and brown children can disappear by the hundreds, but let one little white girl go missing and suddenly everybody cares,\u201d she said in the video. \u201cSo it\u2019s not a coincidence that white women are at the center of a lot of true crime stories.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, it\u2019s so common that there\u2019s a term for it: \u201cMissing white woman syndrome<\/a>,\u201d coined by late PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, which we saw on a massive scale<\/a> in 2021 with the disappearance of white teenager Gabby Petito.<\/p>\n