By Therese Carpenter
Recently, over 100 of Gypsy Rose’s unseen videos got released to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. These videos provided more insight on Gypsy Rose along with her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn. Dee Dee was responsible for subjecting Gypsy to Munchhausen syndrome, through faking both disabilities and illnesses. All of this abuse led to the murder of her mother, Dee Dee. She was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 10 years in jail, but only served 8. Various videos have been brought to light such as interrogation footage, and more notably the videos that Gypsy filmed of herself. However, the videos Gypsy filmed especially sparked controversy because they showed a new side of her case. Instead, these videos would show a different persona where her mom was not present. Gypsy would dress up and make rather inappropriate videos, mainly expressing herself in a sexual way. People wondered where she was able to get the various wigs/outfits she wore, and how she was able to produce videos under the abuse of her mom. Even more so, the case of Gypsy Rose is generally considered a parallel to the case of the Mendez Brothers. In summary Eric and Lyle Mendez murdered their parents Kitty and José Mendez; they were convicted for two counts of first-degree murder along with conspiracy to murder resulting in a sentence of life in prison without parole. Notably in their case they also expressed being abused by both parents. However their dad would engage in sexual abuse to the brothers, starting at the age of six and stopping at eight for Lyle whereas for Erik until adulthood and even recently before the murder. Therefore, in both the cases there are clear victims, yet the Mendez brothers are in jail until this day while Gypsy has built herself a platform online. The question is not exactly if she and the Mendez brothers should be locked up because they both very clearly broke the law, but the amount of time spent in jail for similar cases is nowhere near equal. In both cases severe abuse can be seen however it seems that at the time of the Mendez brothers, sexual abuse for men was not as commonly recognized resulting in a great lack of empathy. Furthermore the Mendez brothers have proven themselves as better people earning their college degrees, and working in support of other inmates. Erik Mendez even assists in hospice care for the elderly while Lyle offers mentorship for young offenders. Whereas, Gypsy is being seen in a new light from her videos and people wonder if she should even have custody over her daughter considering the disgusting things she would say in these videos. Therefore, the way Gypsy is treated in comparison to the Mendez brothers shows a lack of empathy for sexual abuse in males. It also seems there is more depth to her case considering these videos, while the Mendez brothers should have their sentence reduced.