Such gossip can contribute directly to femicide,
when a male murders a female family member for
being deemed as having had improper relations
outside of wedlock. These murders have especially
been reported in some Arab communities in Israel
and also in Jordan, with researchers examining the
role that gossip plays and how men are held to a
different standard of behavior (Glazer and Abu Ras
1994, Faqir 2001). Yet protecting the family honor
can sometimes mean just trying to keep the infor-
mation out of the public eye. In the Negev Desert,
for example, Beduin “informants claimed that
when marriage is conducted between parallel
cousins and the girl turns out not to be a virgin it is
highly unlikely that the matter be disclosed to the
community” (Jakubowska 1990, 889).
While both women and men gossip, it is the
women who are often in a position to observe other
women and girls. In the Muslim Moroccan com-
munity of the Spanish border enclave Ceuta, it is
even considered heretical for women to openly gos-
sip about men’s behavior in critical terms, but not
about women’s behavior (Evers Rosander 1991,
226). In some other areas, it is deemed improper to
gossip about either gender. Social anthropologist
Unni Wikan found that in the town of Sohar,
Oman, “they did not gossip and thereby tell me
about neighbors, acquaintances, and local events.
They did not judge others and thereby reveal their
own values. They did not chatter idly – indeed, they
often hardly even talked” (1991, 10–11). Humor
could still be an acceptable way to gossip and judge
though, for more than half of the women’s neigh-
borhood group conversations that took place in her
presence were devoted to talk and jokes about sexual
matters such as infidelity and non-virginity (136–7).
They did not, however, talk about specific people.
The Qur±àn states, “O ye who believe! Shun
much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime.
And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would
one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother?
Ye abhor that (so abhor the other)! And keep your
duty (to Allah). Lo! Allah is Relenting, Merciful”
(49:12). This is commonly read as a directive for
both men and women not to gossip.
From Morocco, in a book with examples of gos-
sip, comes this admonishment related to a group of
women, including the author, by a gossip who was
having concerns about her own conduct:
There was a man who prayed and fasted and was char-
itable and went to Mecca. There was little to prevent
him from going to paradise. But he used to talk. And
that gossip sent him to hell. One arm records the good,
the other records the bad. His bad accounts added up
and he got the fire on the spot (Kapchan 1996, 221).iran, afghanistan, and south asia 211Bibliography
al-Fanàr, al-Ishà≠àt wa-al-aqàwìl wa-dawrahàfìqam≠al-
mar±a, in al-Fanàr newsletter, June 1991, 6–7.
F. Faqir, Intrafamily femicide in defence of honour. The
case of Jordan, in Third World Quarterly22:1 (2001),
65–82.
A. Gardner, At home in South Sinai, in Nomadic peoples
4:2 (2000), 48–67.
I. M. Glazer and W. Abu Ras, On aggression, human
rights, and hegemonic discourse. The case of murder
for family honor in Israel, in Sex Roles. A Journal of
Research30:3/4 (1994), 269–89.
L. Jakubowska, Terra e onore. La sessualitá femminile fra
i Beduini sedentari, in Quarderni Storici75:3 (1990),
879–94.
A. Kanafani, Aesthetics and ritual in the United Arab
Emirates, Beirut 1983, adapted as Rites of hospitality
and aesthetics, in D. L. Bowen and E. A. Early (eds.),
Everyday life in the Muslim Middle East, Bloomington,
Ind. 1993, 128–35.
D. Kapchan,Gender on the market. Moroccan women
and the revoicing of tradition, Philadelphia 1996.
M. Pickthall (trans.), The Koran, New York 1930, repr.
1992.
E. Evers Rosander,Women in a borderland. Managing
Muslim identity where Morocco meets Spain, Stock-
holm 1991.
U. Wikan, Behind the veil in Arabia. Women in Oman,
Chicago 1982, repr. 1991.Ann GardnerIran, Afghanistan, and South AsiaThe notion of ghaybator talking in a negative
way about a woman behind her back plays a sig-
nificant role in the lives of Iranian, Afghan, and
South Asian women. Fear of gossip puts pressure
on them to uphold traditional and restrictive gen-
der expectations. Given the emphasis on female
chastity and modesty, reports about a female’s
improper behavior, even if unfounded, can ruin a
reputation and chances for a good marriage, and
even result in physical chastisement or, in extreme
cases, death. Women are more at risk than men of
harm from gossip. Most women maintain con-
sciousness about how any dress, behavior, interac-
tion, or location can result in people talking and
lead to serious harm to their social position and
well-being.
In addition to severely restricting women’s
behavior and mobility, the notion of gossip plays a
part in the formation of gender identity. People
view gossip negatively. Women are the ones who
gossip, people generally believe. The association
of gossip with femaleness conveys a characteriza-
tion of women as lacking character, dignity, and re-
straint. Women, with their assumed tendency to
gossip, are seen as idle, weak-willed, unreliable, and
frivolous. Often women themselves view speaking