Gossip: Idle Chatter?

“Apes and monkeys, humanity's closest kin, differ from other animals in the intensity of their relationships. All their grooming is not so much about hygiene as it is about cementing bonds, making friends, and influencing fellow primates (Harvard University Press).” In his research, Robin Dunbar goes into depth about the social complexities of primate grooming. He claims “ To be groomed by a monkey is to experience primordial emotions…. To recognize what this simple gesture signals in the social world of monkeys and apes, you need to know the intimate details of those involved: who is friends with whom, who dominates and who is subordinate, who owes a favour in return for one gr

If one considers gossip as only an aspect of anthropology, one must also look at the functions of gossip in anthropology. Many anthropologists have their own personal view on its functions. Max Gluckman supports that gossip is “a culturally determined and sanctioned process, a social fact, with customary rules and important functions (Rapport 266).” Gluckman’s theory is that gossip’s “principle role is to maintain the unity of social groups: gossip provides a way of asserting the boundary between morally acceptable action and deviant behavior, and thus helps to solidify consensus and to control dissent without recourse to direct confrontation (Besnier 545).” He states, “Notably, gossip helps maintain group unity, morality and history: for the essence of gossip is a constant (if informal and indirect) communal evaluation and reaffirmation of behaviour by assessment against common, traditional expectations. Furthermore, gossip enables groups to control the competing cliques and aspiring individuals of which they are composed: for through gossip, differences of opinion are fought out behind the scenes (through customary innuendo, ambiguity and conceit) so that outwardly a show of harmony and friendship can be maintained. Finally, gossip is a hallmark and a privilege, even a duty, of group membership. A group gossips, gossip is a property, and to be a member is to gossip – about other members (Rapport 266).” Other anthropologists regard gossip as “a means of maintaining social control and preserving group boundaries or as a weapon in factional disputes (Hunter 195).” Whatever their personal theory

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