Reframing “Gossip” as a Term for “Sisterhood:” A Case for Female Bodily and Intellectual Autonomy
Are You Down with OED*?
*Oxford English Dictionary
Etymology
et·y·mol·o·gy
/ˌedəˈmäləjē/
Etymology is one of those fascinating topics that tends to crop up in so many of my personal conversations. Not only is it wonderful to celebrate curiosity, understanding the sociological and political roots of words helps to frame the subtle nuances of a word’s meaning. Not just the denotation, but the spirit of the word, its connotation. It’s a fascinating topic to consider as you think about the role of language, its limitations, and the subtleties of communication a la Heidegger.
Reclamation of Language as a Grassroots Celebration of the Past and Construction of the Future
The way I see things, changes in society and culture happen at the basic level — language. Reclamation of words equips marginalized groups to go beyond the celebration of their cultures and history and enables them to embrace and infuse the essence of their fundamental being into their modern lives. Reclamation is about reframing, it’s about learning history, which is often messy, ugly, and traumatic, and committing to building a more secure and inclusive future. It’s about understanding ourselves to understand others.
BBC Radio 4’s Podcast Witch hosted by India Rakusen is a glorious piece of media that leaves you centered, informed, and inspired; it is so well produced and beautifully inclusive — add it to your lineup. Episode 12 “Witch Circle” celebrates the social and psychological benefits of ritual, the value behind establishing a Coven-Sisterhood-Circle of likeminded folx and I was delighted to find that little etymology was included — together, we learned a little bit about the word gossip.
There’s a huge push to reclaim the term “witch,” and India honors this need but challenges her readers to consider the importance of digging a little bit deeper to the true roots of sisterhood; to look at the etymology of the term gossip.
So the word gossip used to mean ‘friend’ in the medieval times. It came from ‘God’ and ‘sip.’ So like God parents…‘sip’ meant ‘kin.’ And a woman’s ‘gossip’ was a close friend. — India Rakusen
Placing “Gossip” in a Larger Historical Context
India and one of the episode’s guests, Dr. Silvia Federici, takes a few minutes to explore the historical context of the term gossip and how it has (d)evolved over the centuries in relation to both its connotation and denotation.
She and Dr. Federici enjoy an illuminating conversation that begins with a sharing that the term gossip began to adopt the negative connotation that is currently understood in modern terms coincided with the move of females to more isolated, home-centric roles where idle talk reigned, leading to the prevailing notion that “when women come together, they are up to no good.”
Dr. Federici is a celebrated feminist scholar who has dedicated her career to investigating the role of primitive accumulation in the perpetuation of Capitalism. Her book Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation is an alternative to traditional Marxist views, providing the notion that the restructuring of female roles and modern familial models (see: Nuclear Family) supported the rise and prevalence of capitalism. She frames her feminism with a diverse exploration of economic and socio-political considerations ranging from the devaluation of homemaking duties to consideration of the medieval and colonial witch-hunts using modern historical language.
The Great Flood
Dr. Federici recounts a piece of the story of Noah and his Ark where Noah had gathered the animals to escape the flood and arrives to usher his wife to safety alongside his son:
She’s at the tavern with her widowed gossips and he goes there and she says, ‘wife, come because the flood is coming and we need to go’ and she says, ‘wait, we go with all my gossips, right?’ And he says, ‘no, no, no, no. There’s only space for you.’ And she says, ‘oh, husband, you go and, find yourself another wife because my gossip, I love them too much and I’m not going to come.’ He and his son…they brutalize her. They drag her into the ark. That’s, that’s how the tale ends. This is a really classical example.
We come to learn that there’s this sense of community-based danger that is stimulated in the face of women coming together to form sisterhoods, close relationships among one another outside of their relationships to their husbands and families; the idea that women can idlely discuss ideas, beliefs, desires, to ultimately reflect on cultural, religious, relational dissent — a discontentment with their lives.
Ultimately, this fear of female empowerment through conversation and connection is a fear of female bodily and intellectual autonomy.
Community Building and Molding Fellowship in Solitary Roles
The etymological roots of the term gossip is that of support and community, it is not one of mindless, evil chat. Gossip is a celebration of familiarity, support, expansion of a support base and I, like India, want to reclaim this term to embody my nearest and closest — those who have inspired me to become more, to reach further, and to invest in myself, my family, and community at-large.
