gossip, like the community, right?
it’s been used for ages to knock down and silence women. when you call something gossip, it feels like you’re brushing it off as unimportant, like it’s just a bunch of emotions and no real substance. This stupid attitude is part of a bigger picture where women’s thoughts and feelings are not only doubted but also stripped away of their power in society.
when we talk about gossip, it’s usually women who get the bad rap, while guys just slide by, calling their chats “networking” or “”“important discussions”“”, or whatever the fuck. this double standard makes women look petty and shallow, while guys get praised for doing the same things. the outcome? A toxic vibe that quiets women’s voices, suggesting their honest talks are weak, while giving men’s conversations a sense of importance.
labeling women’s talks as gossip has serious consequences, controlling and limiting their social and political clout. history shows how women’s experiences often get pushed aside, and this fucking term helps silence their truths. by labeling women talking about social issues, personal struggles, or systemic problems as just gossip, we take away their weight and make people doubt women’s real experiences.
plus, when women come together to share their stories - no matter if they’re happy, sad, or fighting back - those moments get brushed off as just tittle-tattle-chit-chat instead of recognized as acts of unity or solidarity (obligatory spooooooky leftist terminology). this kind of thinking just pushes the idea that women’s views aren’t as valuable as men’s, keeping a flawed gender hierarchy in place that holds back the rich range of female voices.
tldr calling something “gossip” isn’t just an insult; it’s a way to disrespect women’s voices, weaken their power, and keep gender inequality alive. and leftist spaces like hexbear shouldnt see it as a good thing to name a community after.
i obviously don’t think that the old the_x_tank-names should be reinstated, the extremely problematic connections of those terms have been laid out quite clearly and we should absolutely have a zero tolerance policy towards the shot they represented. some user im not bothering to look up suggested the_peoples_court ( ) , maybe that would be an option.
and yes, this is a new acc, but the reasons for its creation have nothing to do with the current struggle sesh. the name of my old acc was implicating my opsex and i decided to be more careful with my online presence
Maybe I’m just too young but I’ve never seen the word “gossip” as gendered? Men definitely gossip
ill admit that im not very up to date with the culture of “da youfs” but i remember the term being used dismissively against women back in “my days”. though maybe im just
I’ve definitely heard it used dismissively against women, but I think it’s become less gendered due to it being used by parts of the gay community and their increased representation. I haven’t encountered it really being used by or about cishet men though, so I wouldn’t say it isn’t still dismissive of femininity.
I’d say it’s one of those things where it’s gendered by implication. I’ve for sure heard in Jr High using the term ‘gossip’ instead of ‘talking shit’ was a means of emasculation. Men gossip for sure, but they never call it gossip, where women simply conversing with each other without men present has often been assumed to always be gossip and has been kind of an umbrella term for women speaking to one another casually whether it would otherwise count as gossip or not. There would never be a show called Gossip Guys.
Maybe its becoming less gendered today, but not the way i see it. Gossip is used as a dismisive word, to belittle the people doing it and what they’re talking about. When people talk about men gossiping its in essence saying that they aren’t talking about inportant things, thus they’re being feminine and bad.
I’ve encountered it as a gendered dismissal of women, but I’ve also seen it used neutrally far more. I like it as a word. It’s… relaxed. Like, “What were saying doesn’t necessarily carry weight, we’re shooting the shit”. I’d argue it’s an actuate description for most of online interaction, so I like it as a name in that regard.
they should have renamed the dunk tank to ragebait. it’s the most accurate description of the content it contains, and it’s not got racist or misogynist overtones
OK i am exiting this struggle session again, don’t @ me
Death to America
Even if it wasn’t gendered I would still hate the word gossip, it’s just a really annoying thing to say about anything. Like let me fucking talk, let me figure out what the fuck is going on, go away if you don’t want to listen
I think its great to rename the d*nk comm due to the rascist assiciations. But yeah, i don’t think gossip was a good word choice
I don’t recall who said it but wasn’t the name gossip picked partly because they wanted to emphasize the frivolousness of the posts that would go there? Like they were begrudgingly maintaining part of the old dunk place but wanted to shame it. I agree, in my experience it has “effeminate” and frivolous connotations and is used in media to refer to what those clique-y and rude women do behind your back.
well, “those clique-y and rude women” shouldn’t exactly be the sort of connections a supposedly gender-inclusive site should maintain
Exactly, I really think the use of the word in a new comm is unhelpful for the stated goals of ‘reducing misogyny’ and white cishet vibes. I suppose not everyone sees the term that way, truly all sorts of people do gossip, but the term itself has typically seemed to be used to reinforce societal misogyny in my view.
