In an accurate but largely irrelevant announcement this afternoon, white woman Leida Cowell stated that gossip is a historically important way for marginalized communities to spread information while in the midst of talking mindless shit.
According to sources close to the story, Leida was going off about another white woman in her peer group when the revolutionary history of gossip came to the fore.
“The thing about Jo, is that people think she’s so fashionable, but she’s actually just rich,” Leida said. “Like, it’s not as though she has such a good eye or such great taste; she can just afford to spend a ton on already well-curated clothes and accessories.”
But when another friend expressed discomfort and guilt for talking so much shit about Jo, Leida was quick to use it as a learning moment.
“Gossip is a way for the most vulnerable people to spread information among their communities, particularly those historically gatekept from literacy, and other ‘legitimate’ forms disseminating knowledge,” said Leida, moments after stating that buying whimsical home goods on Etsy is “not a personality”. “So it’s actually really important not to stigmatize it.”
However, not everyone was convinced by the suitability of this invocation.
“When Leida brought up how gossip as a concept has been maligned under patriarchy in order to delegitimize pathways of information that can’t be controlled by cishet white men, I was like, right,” says witness and friend Molly Zhao. “But I think that kind of gossip is more about, like, warning each other about unsafe men?”
These sorts of probing questions have not slowed Leida down.
“There’s actually a fascinating and deeply important history of how enslaved women utilized gossip in order to protect….” says Leida, trailing off. “I mean, I’m not comparing how gossip functions for me to that, obviously. So, so different. Incomparable.”
“But with that said, it’s like, that is the history,” Leida adds. “Oh, my fucking God, look at Jo’s Instagram story. She just got more chunky earrings. Girl, enough!”
