Gossip is bad. At least this is what we are told as children, tweens, teens, and even when we become that liminal space that we dub adulthood. The reasoning behind such a qualitative judgement is that it is considered impolite to speak about another person's life in his or her absence, especially if such conversations include scandalous details. Marshall describes gossip as consisting "in discussions about personalities, habits, faults, talents, education, productiveness, compatibility-and you name it. It suggests importunity, interference, criticism, and judgment based on dubious evidence, perhaps no more than vague rumors” (322). In defining gossip in this way, Marshall misses the one element that gossip can offer; gossip, for better or worse, can help strengthen social ties between individuals, and may be seen as an integral part of socialization.
When seen this way, one can appreciate the possibility that all gossip is not bad. Eder and Enke suggest that “Unlike collaborative story-telling where it is often necessary to have participated in a shared event or experience in order to engage in collective talk (Eder and Enke 1988), shared experience is not necessary for gossip participation” (498). Because gossip does not rely on the shared experience, virtually anyone can join in the conversation. The fascination most people possess for other's people's lives transcends differences in characters, and some people may find themselves bonding over a piece of gossip, whereas before they could not find middle ground. This is what gossip, indeed, offers. Gossip, in this sense, is a way of connecting with others through some privileged or scandalous piece of information that incites awe and could be the gateway to further socialization.
Though I am not implying that gossip is the only form of socialization, gossip is perhaps the necessary catalyst for certain types of socialization. Gossip as a catalyst is especially useful at times where the interaction between individuals is essentially a novelty. In sharing pieces of gossip, people arguably share tidbits of their character. These traits shown by socialization through gossip are arguably seen as essential when determining the level of social interaction one person wants to have with another, or even with a group of like-minded people. In studying the gossip patterns of middle school students, Eder and Enke observed that “participation in gossip draws on and further develops the shared knowledge of group members. Shared knowledge ... [is] needed to interpret ambiguous comments well enough to expand on them” (501). Even though their studies were conducted in a middle-school setting, it is arguable that the type of social interaction they witnessed is commonplace in the workplace as a mode of both socialization and professional advancement.
Of course, most professionals would like people to believe that gossip is not part of the workplace dynamic; however, the fascination individuals have with other people’s lives is merely part of the social environment we inhabit. The sharing of this fascination combined with the constant flux of information makes for a richer social environment. Though I am against the condemnation of people, I find that gossip not only strengthens social ties, but it provides an outlet through which people can let go of their problems and focus on lives that are not their own.
Perhaps this is what makes celebrity gossip appealing to a wide audience, especially to women. By focusing on the lives and mishaps of celebrities, people who are unreachable for the majority of the population, one can feel a relieved sense of self and the pressures brought by daily lives. If celebrities can fall as hard -if not harder- than most of us, perhaps we can find consolation in this fact. Furthermore, celebrity gossip has arguably become an integral part of social interaction; it provides a safe target of gossip, and creates opportunities for conversation where none could be found prior to discussing the rich and (in)famous. Some people might even bond over disdain for these celebrities, if one can call most of them celebrities in their own right. Reminiscent of royalty, celebrity now exists in varying degrees; from reality-TV fame, celebutante fame, to movie-star type fame, the targets for gossip are essentially safe to discuss and dissect. After all, if there were no such fascination, then why are we still watching?
No comments:
Post a Comment