Gossip Girl
November 10, 2023
Writer: Caroline Tully
Editor: Abigail Peacock
“OMG did you hear?”
“I have tea. Can I Facetime you?”
“Can I complain for a quick second?”
All of these questions are music to my ears.
This may be controversial for me to say, but gossiping is one of my favorite after-school activities. We engage in conversation about other people and the details of their lives on a daily basis. For better or for worse, we gossip about others, and you’re being gossiped about, too — it’s our biggest guilty pleasure.
We’ve heard the phrase “small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas” and seen the “Gossip hurts” poster in the hallways of our middle schools, but we still do it. It is so deeply ingrained in our culture and conversations; It is hard to imagine a world where it doesn’t exist. By reframing our notions about gossip and finding the value in this practice, we can stop giving it such a bad rep.
At its core, gossip is a way to share news and events, whether they’re related to pop culture or our own social network, and our opinions on the topic. By sharing our opinions on a given situation with another person, they get to learn about our morals and values and vice versa. A prime example of this is talking about a couple that broke up because one of the partners cheated. If I were to discuss this with one of my friends, we could demonstrate that we both value loyalty and trust and condemn cheating in a relationship.
Gossip is also a way for us to monitor the behaviors of those whom we are gossiping about. I’ve noticed that one of my guy friends is starting to become flirty with one of my girl friends. I turn to my other friend and share what I’ve seen, and she agrees. Then, we get excited and start a whole conversation about all the other times we have noticed the two of them together and how they would be a great couple.
By discussing our morals and values and analyzing the behaviors of others, we start to get at arguably the best part of gossiping: bonding. Gossiping with someone helps us form deeper connections. When we’re frustrated by the members of our group project not pulling their weight, we release that frustration and anger to our roommates who back us up. When we find out that Taylor Swift was spotted at the Chiefs game with Travis Kelce’s family, we rewatch TikToks of them together and gush over how they’re the perfect match with our friends. These moments help us better get to know the person we are conversing with and feel a closer connection. Since gossip is still considered taboo, there’s an unspoken promise between gossipers that what has been talked about stays between them. This secret-keeping further builds on the trust we already may have in the relationship. (With that in mind, don’t tell my friend that I wrote about her in this article!)
Overall, gossip shouldn’t be something we shy away from as long as we do it without the intention of hurting others or spreading misinformation. Most of our day we interact with people and then reflect on those interactions. It is natural and necessary for us to talk about those interactions and reflections with others. So yes, you heard it here first: the greatest of minds gossip! So grab your friends, get brunch, and gossip away!
