Sticks and stones can break your bones, but can words really hurt you?

Women gossip. No matter the time or society they live in, all women at some point or another have been guilty of talking about another person, usually a women, behind her back.

Gossip starts in the playground. Middle school girls in matching ponytails and sneakers stand around in circles, running from group to group, sharing secrets, spreading scandal, and hearing rumors. "Lizzie likes Johnny!" might be the gossip of the day, or perhaps "Mary didn't invite Lucy to her birthday party!" Harmless enough, in theory.

But as women mature, their cattiness unfortunately grows with them. By the time girls reach high school, rumors are more vicious, deceit is more rampant, and manipulation and betrayal come to be reoccurring themes for many. Gossip progresses.
"Did you hear Catie slept with three guys over spring break!"
"Apparently Stephanie did ecstasy last weekend!"
"Nick is cheating on his girlfriend with her best friend!"
"Whore," some girls are labeled. "Loser," others.

Grown women are not exempt from the practice of gossip that their younger peers partake in. In fact, grown women are just as, if not more, prone to gossip and making judgements than their younger counterparts, as shown by both wives and handmaids in The Handmaid's Tale.

To begin, in Janine's birthing scene, the wives fawn over her, celebrating her fertility and rewarding her with kind words and gentle gestures. "More like a daughter to you, as you might say. One of the family," one Wife says (Atwood, 125). However, as soon as Janine is out of earshot, the whispers and judgmental remarks commence. "Little whores, all of them, but still, you can't be choosy. You take what they hand out, right girls?" (Atwood, 125). These women show no more maturity than your average high schooler, lowering themselves back to a teenage sort of pettiness. It also shows that this pious society has failed to stop one of the most traditional practices of women.

Later, after Janine's baby is proven to be unhealthy, the wives enjoy the opportunity to partake in another session of slurs aimed at handmaids. Offred wonders what Serena Joy is saying about her. She imagines:

"Agreed to it right away, really she didn't care, anything with two legs and a good you-know-what was fine with her. They aren't squeamish, they don't have the same feelings we do," (Atwood, 227). 

While in the Red Center, the handmaids rarely found the occasion to giggle together, let alone share secrets. Nonetheless, the bathroom wall serves as somewhat of an outlet for them to get out their womanly need to gossip. "Aunt Lydia sucks," someone has scrawled (Atwood, 234). Offred describes the feeling she receives while gossiping with Moira about the Aunts:

"There is something powerful in the whisperings of obscenities, about those in power. There's something delightful about it, something naughty, secretive, forbidden, thrilling. It's like a spell, of sorts. It deflates them, reduces them to the common denominator where they can be dealt with," (Atwood, 234). 

In most ways, the way in which women behave in Gilead is so far from the behavior of the modern American woman. However, the way the women (of all classes - ranging from handmaids to wives) behave in this story makes one wonder if gossip is, unfortunately, an innate practice of all women.

(all images from Google Images)