(Tittle Tattle; or The Feveral Branches of Gofsipping, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1973-U-216)
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title: Some Gossip on gossip
author: Irmak
Some Gossip on gossip and what coffee has to do with it?
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Godsipp (God and sib (akin), godmother or godfather) in the 12^th^ century was a word used for both men and women in fables and amongst society. The word was recognized by the church as well. It was also used to name the companions at childbirth, just as the `midwife`. Sometimes it was used to mention close friends. It represented the strong ties between women, surpassing the relationship with the husband. Is it witchery that strong and independent women preferred their gossips to their husbands? Well that is something that hasn't changed since the middle ages.
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# Some Gossip on gossip and what coffee has to do with it.
Godsipp (God and sib (akin), godmother or godfather) was in the 12th century a word used for both men and women in fables and amongst society. The word was recognized by the church as well. It was also used to name the companions at childbirth, just as the `midwife`. Sometimes it was used to mention close friends. It represented the strong ties between women, surpassing the relationship with the husband. Is it witchery that strong and independent women preferred their gossips to their husbands? Well that is something that hasn't changed since the middle ages.
"Godsipp" began its journey with nothing but good and emotionally strong connotations. Women bloomed and blemished among each other and were autonomous in their existence. Men were never a part of this party women were throwing. However, by the 16^th^ century, thing began to change. "The traditional meaning lingered on. In 1602, when Samuel Rowlands wrote Tis Merrie When Gossips Meete, a satirical piece describing three London women spending hours in a tavern talking about men and marriages, the word was still used to signify female friendships, implying that 'women could create their social networks and their own social space' and stand up to male authority. (Federici, 2019)" Solidarity and friendship amongst women were demeaned and female exclusive parties were banned; women who met in public were identified as "witches" and women's first duty was now to be obedient and quiet. Apparently, the talk about husbands at taverns were too hurtful for the sensitive male ego that public, church and the law, forbid women to engage in "idle talk". Centuries past, the sensitive male ego still remains but now is attacking to mutilate women from many resources including cyber bullying, mobbing at the workspace and many more that tie to an act violence in any sort.
