by Angela Harlow
Deborah Jones addresses gossip among women, a topic with little research completed. Jones does not have concrete evidence concerning her subject, she writes instead about personal claims she has observed. Jones concentrates on personal observations and on other women's writings on gossip between females. Her main goal is to inform the audience of the types of gossip and to get researchers interested so they will build upon these observations.
Characteristics of women's speech have an intimate and personal
tone. Gossip is defined as a specific way of talking between women
and noted for the values, morals, and unity of women as a social
group. The settings where gossip occurs are domestic: the home,
the hairdresser, and the supermarket. Women gossip among themselves;
females have their own social group and relate to common experiences.
Men are often intimidated by women's ability to share and maintain
secrets. Males may begin to attack or underestimate the power
women have with each other through similar experiences and the
information shared when gossiping. Topics that occur in gossiping
are consistent in nature. The topics reflect upon the roles women
are expected to uphold within society and includes the part of
wife, girlfriend, and mother. Conversations tend to revolve around
the typical, expected, and maintained roles of women; topics focus
on housework (cooking and cleaning), child rearing, the wifely
role of psychological expertise, and the priority of appearance.
Women inquire and take interest in speakers' lives, the lives
of people outside the conversation, and personal experiences.
by Michelle Jensen
"Gossip is a staple of women's lives, and the study of gossip is the study of women's concerns and values, a key to the female subculture." This is the conclusion of Deborah Jones' article "Gossip: notes on women's oral culture." She characterizes her article as a "chatting session," is not concerned with a thesis, and shares her own experiences of language between women. Jones' purpose is simply to create interest in the subject and encourage others to further think about and study more specifically language between women. I believe she has effectively created interest in the language between women through the content and organization of the article and through her writing style, and in doing so has illustrated the impact of language on the lives of women.
The article was written in 1980, a time when little was known or studied about the language between women. The intended audience primarily includes women and specifically women interested in the further study of women and language. Since the article is written by a white, English-speaking woman, the experiences of all other women is lacking. This seems to be a major shortcoming of the article; however, Jones clearly states her purpose and in footnotes the limitations of her experiences.
Through the organization and content of the article Jones again illustrates her purpose and intent in writing; to share her experiences of language between women. The organization of the article is structured and logically and clearly discusses a definition of gossip, the elements of gossip, and finally the functions of gossip. She leaves her reader thinking about the importance of further study in this area and realizing the impact of language on the concerns and values of women. The content of the article is representative of white, English-speaking women and does not include material to intimidate, nor does Jones include a lot of material for emotional impact. "Gossip may be derogated by men as trivial (what could be more trivial than women's concerns?) but it is also seen as a threat." This sentence, obviously emotionally charged, seemingly was included by Jones to emphasize the importance of the study of gossip and to provide a connection between the language of women and women's issues. Overall, however, the content of the article is reflective of Jones' purpose and concern, simply to inform and generate interest in the subject.
Jones creates interest in her subject through her style and tone of writing. She exhibits an awareness of self and effectively communicates her experiences in her writing. Though her article contains no thesis and data collected, she clearly writes and accomplishes what she proposes to do. She communicates her experiences in a personal tone using "I" and "our" and takes ownership for her thoughts. She also seemingly researched a great deal on her topic and references these sources throughout her article. Jones' writing reflects her value of women, and language, and the impact of language on women's issues.
In conclusion, the article "Gossip: notes on women's oral culture" illustrates Jones' experiences of the language between women. I believe she effectively shares her thoughts and experiences, and raises interest in her subject. I am interested in whether or not Jones' article generated further study of the language between women, a subject worthy of further study as it impacts all of us.
Critique
by Angela Harlow
Jones found that gossip has unspoken formal features. Conversations among women are usually not categorized as gossip, but Jones labels all discussions by women as gossip. Gossip normally involves the use of questions or tag questions such as "odd, isn't?" when talking about another person's actions or behavior. When women share information about a situation or person, women tend to develop thoughts or questions and start to make judgements. For example, a woman (Sara) has told her friend (Jaci) that a mutual friend (Jennifer) is getting a divorce, Jaci will probably ask Sara for more information so she can better understand the situation. Jaci may wonder to herself if the information will affect the relationship she has with Jennifer. Jaci may ask Sara her opinion on the situation and together may decide to alter the relationship to be more supportive of Jennifer. When a person recieves gossip, one may reply in several ways including raising their eyebrows, pursing their lips, sighing or remaining silent.
Jones claims that there are four different functions of gossip -- housetalk, scandal, bitching, and chatting -- each type having specific topics of discussion. First, housetalk is the exchange of information on concrete tasks and relationships. Concrete tasks include the sharing of recipes, household hints, and dress patterns. Conversations about relationships involve how to effectively raise a child or how to find and maintain a husband. Housetalk provides informal training to learn the accepted female role. Women in addition, receive support, recognition, and emotional needs from gossiping.
Women tend to judge the behavior of others which is scandal. Misbehavior, specifically sexual misbehavior of other women, are often the subjects of attack. The second aspect is that women are interested in each other's lives and want to make connections with one another.
The action of attacking men is bitching and is the third function of gossip. Bitching concentrates on personal and specific complaints of the inferior status and restricted roles of women. Women relate through bitching by sharing similar feelings, but rarely expect the complaints to bring change.
The final and most intimate function of gossip is chatting. Chatting
is a mutual conversation concerning one's feelings, life style,
and beliefs. Women try to gain emotional resolution or comfort
through chatting that cannot be equally obtained when talking
with men. Jones concludes that gossip is essential to women's
daily life, is a study of women's values, and is important to
maintain the female subculture.
©Angela Harlow and Michelle Jensen, Winona (MN) State University, 30 January 1997. This document may be freely distributed for educational use as long as this notice of its authorship accompanies its distribution.
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