Witch-hunt Gossip has always been a secret language of friendship and resistance between women. By Hannah Black
“I began this account of the gossip with her enemies to show how important her speech has been, although it is mocked as trivial. Hatred of gossip is hatred of women talking to each other – it is generally women who do this work of love. When we gossip, we share vital information: this one is sad, this one is in love, this one is dangerous. In most families, news of birth, death, failure and achievement travels through the women. Communities of gossips nurse each other through the degradations that partners, bosses and families inflict on us. Without the love of gossips, most of us would be either dead or dead inside. § “
