On Gossip

From Stereotype Out, a group on Figment.com


Gossip should never happen. I'm a girl, I know what it's like to gossip. It starts simple with a "how is [enter name here] doing?" and then comes, "Well, I've heard that she's out with food poisoning" and then comes, "Well, we all know how she eats." and then it gets REALLY hurtful. I've gossiped before, and nothing good ever came out of those conversations. The only thing that came from gossiping was making it more awkward the next time you meet the subject of your conversation.

Gossip is talking about someone behind their back and judging them unfairly, without giving the person a chance to defend themselves (because they aren't there.) There's usually a lot of stereotyping involved in the judging, too.

There is no place for gossip. Yes, I know it's fun because it's like sharing secrets and so on (remember, I'm a girl. I understand the want!) but it really isn't doing anything but harm.

So why do we do it? Well, it's fun, sharing secrets. It's natural the want to be part of something exclusive, separating yourself from others. Oh wait, that's just like a clique. Yeah, gossiping makes cliques, because no one else can be "in on the secret". And cliques are for territorial squirrels EXCLUSIVELY!

Sometimes people gossip because they want to impress others. It's so subtle in use that it's almost a subconcious act. But remeber the example with the food poisoning (see above)? The person that said, "Well, we all know how she eats," is trying to make a joke. Do you guys still remember our popularity talk? Yeah, putting others down to make yourself higher. Not cool. (Note: I'm not saying that all people are like this, but this is, sadly, one of the big causes of gossip.)

LASTLY! Sometimes there is the simple want to "be in the know". Gossip is a big way of getting news around. You know, "She's with him," and "he dumped her" and "he failed the history test" and stuff like that. Sure, you might want to know this stuff but do you have to know it? With our world today it's like everyone has to know everything about everyone. Why can't people except that they don't have to know everything? Sure, if you're "in the know" then you've got the latest peace of news, which keeps people from getting bored. What's wrong with boredom? I find boredom the best place for imagination. It's like imagination needs a clean slate to exercise all of its potential.

Now, "talking about someone" doesn't mean that you have to gossip about them. You could say, "She sings really well" which is technically talking about her, but it's not gossip. No, you get into gossip when you start judging them unfairly. NOTE! Merely judging someone with good intent isn't gossip. You could easily say, "She sings really well, but that one part I thought was a little bit pitchy." Hey, writers, we all do this on Figment! Remember? Critiquing people? Leaving people reviews? That's all judging. But it's not gossip, right? No, it's because 1. You're letting the person know what you liked and didn't like. 2. We critique and judge for the author's benefit. You're helping them. By gossip we're doing to opposite of helping them!


B.C.