Gossip

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Photo Credits:-

Gossip Gathering 1
(OpenClipart-
Vectors, Pixabay)

Negative Gossip
(Baruska, Pixabay)

Zipped Female Lips graphic
(andreabencik, Pixabay)

Gossip Gathering 2
(sarbiya1105, Pixabay)

Gossip

Gossip can be defined as idle chit-chat
about another's personal matters.
This article shows there is usually little idle about it.
Is it valuable human resource or destructive force?

Gossip has come to be equated with its destructive meaning.
Apparently, we should shut up and not gossip.
Yes, gossip can be about spreading damaging stories about people for personal gain, to manipulate social status, or out of insecurity or envy, or from hate.
All about backbiting, betrayal and lies.
Social media shows so much of this!

Yet this negative marking of gossip by society is also a way that patriarchy controls women. By keeping women silent, patriarchy avoids its abuses being exposed - as women are the ones who tend to ensure tribal cohesion through communication.

This points to gossip's precious evolutionary purposes!

Talking about possible abuse and abusers is the primary way to ensure that abuse stops. Think #MeToo
Gossip helps bonding in large social groups.

Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar says that language evolved to aid social cohesion. Language conveys social information. To be human is to gossip!

So, aim for authentic and/or compassionate interactions!!

Quotes

Gossip is a form of low-level psychological analysis of each other, you see.
(Marie-Louise von Franz, YouTube, 2m44s, posted 7th, accessed 8th January 2025)

Listen to the whispers and you won’t have to hear the screams. (Native American proverb)

Resources & Sources

Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language (Wikipedia) [1996 book by anthropologist Robin Dunbar].
Why You Were Born to Gossip (David Ludden, PhD, Psychology Today, 2015).
I love a good gossip – life’s twists and turns intrigue and titillate (Hannah Jane Parkinson, The Guardian, 2021) [Great for social bonding, exposing predators as in #MeToo, gathering information].
At work there is so much gossip. I hate it, but I can’t stop (Philippa Perry, The Guardian, 2022) [Gossip can work as a glue – and there is a more tactful way of communicating. Be less hard on yourself and learn to make ‘I statements’.].
Why do we gossip? (Why Do We Do That?, BBC Sounds, 2025) [13m45s audio].
‘It’s not whether you do it – it’s how you do it’: the expert guide to healthy gossiping (Elle Hunt, The Guardian, 2025) [It is a social skill. It can protect. It creates and strengthens bonds. Use it wisely.].

Also see:-

Evolutionary Psychology
articles

Snitch

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