Gypsy Rose Blanchard-Anderson’s public relations team is working overtime. A week after her release from prison, Blanchard-Anderson released a book, a new Lifetime documentary and amassed a substantial social media following. At the time of writing, she has 9.8 million TikTok followers and 8.3 million Instagram followers. Blanchard-Anderson is the Internet’s newest “It” girl.
Blanchard-Anderson was charged in 2016 with second-degree murder for the role she played in the murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard.
Blanchard suffered from factitious disorder imposed on another, formerly Munchausen by proxy, a psychological disorder where a caregiver acts if someone, typically a child, is sick even if they are not.
Blanchard forced her daughter to pretend that she had a multitude of medical illnesses, including leukemia and muscular dystrophy. Even though her daughter could walk, she was forced to stay in a wheelchair. Blanchard-Anderson was put on an extensive medication regime and given unnecessary medical surgeries and procedures when she was perfectly healthy.
Blanchard-Anderson met an older man, Nicholas Godejohn, on a Christian dating site and became romantically involved with him. Godejohn had a history of mental illnesses. She told Godejohn everything about the abuse she was facing. Together, the two planned the murder of Blanchard-Anderson’s mother.
In June 2015, Godejohn came to the home the two women shared and stabbed Blanchard while Blanchard-Anderson covered her ears in the bathroom. Blanchard-Anderson was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released after seven due to good behavior.
The Internet has had a sympathetic view of her, with TikTokers excited for her release. People on social media posted ideas for her release party, entered her into Gag City, and offered their support to Blanchard-Anderson.
Blanchard-Anderson has been warmly welcomed into the public sphere with a plethora of speaking engagements and memes. Despite this, other victims of abuse who commit crimes are not given the same support that she has received.
There is an element of infantilization of Blanchard-Anderson that is at play. Her mother infantized her, and is now by the public. The narrative is that, since she missed the formative years of her life, the actions that she took part in are okay. In her interview with The View, host Joy Behar explained how she had no choice in the part she played in the murder of her mother, thereby excusing her for her actions.
The public has the idea that Blanchard-Anderson is still the same young, abused girl that she was when she entered prison. Which, even according to Blanchard-Anderson herself, is not a valid assessment. She is a grown woman, and her infantilization has made it easier for the public to overlook the violent and grotesque crime she had taken part in. When we infantilize grown women, we take away their agency and make them more palatable and easier to pity.
White women have always found it easy to be viewed as victims. In well-known true crime cases, everyone loves and is fascinated by victims who are white women. White women have been given the benefit of having the factors that they face taken into consideration when they commit crimes. In contrast, women of color do not get the same sympathy.
Take Cyntoia Brown, a victim of human trafficking who, at age 16, killed Johnny Allen, a 43-year-old man who had taken her to his home to pay her for sex. Brown was forced into sex work by her pimp, “Cut Throat,” who brutalized her physically and sexually repeatedly.
Brown was intimidated by Allen, who took her to his house where no one knew where she was, showed her his extensive collection of guns, and then tried to have sex with her while he thought she was sleeping. Brown was not even the age of consent in her state, yet she was tried as an adult and given no sympathy by the court. During her trial, Brown was not treated as a victim but instead as a conniving prostitute who wanted to rob Allen. Brown was sentenced to 60 years in prison but was released after 15 years when her case was brought into the public light.
Blanchard-Anderson, with her pale skin and little girl voice, was treated as an abused little girl despite her being 24 at the time. In contrast, Brown was received differently. Many women of color face similar situations as Brown by being treated as adults too soon.
A study by the Georgetown Law Center on poverty and inequality showed that Black girls are seen as less innocent than their white peers. They also found that compared to white girls the same age, participants perceived Black girls as needing less nurturing and protection and that Black girls knew about more adult topics. White girls are given the benefit of the doubt, whereas Black girls do not receive the same. Black girls are pushed into adulthood without any regard for the trauma that this causes.
Brown earned her GED and college degree in prison, wrote a book, and started a non-profit. Brown has dedicated her life to advocacy for victims of human trafficking. Brown had to work twice as hard to receive a quarter of the support and sympathy that Blanchard-Anderson has received. I say this not to say that Blanchard-Anderson should not be receiving the kindness and empathy she is receiving from the public, but instead, we should treat all criminals like this with compassion and nuance.
Blanchard-Anderson went from being a prisoner of her mother to being a prisoner of the state to being a prisoner of the public. Blanchard-Anderson was taught how to manipulate people from a young age by her mother. She was media trained on how to gain sympathy and again plays a role in gaining profit. Now, instead of her mother, whom she was trying to please, it is the public. As soon as she does something they disagree with, they will throw her away and move on to the next obsession. In a sick way, Blanchard-Anderson is living out her mother’s dream by turning sympathy and pity into profit and fame.
