The Southern Belle’s Unspoken Rules for Gossiping

Gossip ~The Lawd says in Proverbs 20:19  A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much. Now the key word from our Lawd is talks too much!

Gossip is when you hear something you like about someone you don’t.

~ Earl Wilson

Yes, Southern Belle’s gossip; it’s a way for us to connect and share information about our social ethics and guidelines for a Belle’s behavior. Our gossip usually comments on how appropriate a behavior was (or wasn’t), and the mere act of repeating it to other Belle’s signifies its importance to us. In this sense, gossip is effective regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Now some theorists have proposed that gossip is actually a pro-social behavior intended to allow a Belle to correct her socially prohibitive behavior without direct confrontation from another Belle. So what they are really sayings is gossiping about another Belle’s bad behavior, can subtly indicate to her that said acts are inappropriate and it allow the Belle to stop and think, then correct her behavior. Yes, it’s true sometimes a Southern Belle can be a very bad girl and it is our jobs to help them stop their behavior any way we can. So when they are bad, we will do our christain duty and gossip about it! This means we must do whatever it takes to lead them back to being virtuous Belle's of the south.


Now I of course will not share one single Belle’s name in this blog but if you have ever done one or more of the things I’m talking about, then you might want to re-think your behavior. Hopefully this blog will subtly remind you to correct your behavior as the whole world is watching you.

One of the things most Belle’s gossip about is divorce. We in the bible belt hold marriage to be sacred. So when a Belle’s gets a divorce this is BIG news. We will talk about whose fault it was and if there was a little hanky, panky going on before the divorce and if so who with and so on, you get the idea I’m sure. We like nothing better than to sit around with a glass of wine and talk about other peoples woes and sorrows (it makes our own life seem better somehow).

Now if a Belle has been divorced more than once well she is just asking for it and God forbid if she has been divorced 5 or 6 times, she is no longer a Belle at that point she is a ruined woman by southern standards! In this Belle’s mind I just wonder what kind of man would marry a woman who has been married that many times. I’m sure he would not be a Southern Gentleman that’s for sure! And if she has been married and divorced that many times no mere gossip is going to make her change her behavior it will take a psychiatrist!

Another thing we love to gossip about is extra marital affairs. Some times they can end in divorce but often times this behavior can go on for years with multiple affairs. Sometimes we just can’t believe our eyes and ears! The deacon of the church with what Southern Belle and the high school band teacher hot after what Belle, Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, don’t they know better and at their age, oh my you just shake your head, sigh and say “Bless her heart” because you just can’t believe she did it again!

The really funny thing to me is these same Belles’s who do all these crazy things talk about other Belle’s too. It’s like they have a short circuit in their brain or conscience or something. I do stand and look at these Belle’s and wonder have you looked in the mirror lately honey. I mean hello clean up your act before you talk about another Belle’s bad behavior. I mean that is the purpose of gossiping is to help you see the problem and fix it!

A Belle’s should never forget what she’s done because I can assure you nobody else will. Even when she smiles and thinks no one remembers or cares she’s just lying to herself because a Belle will never forget. Most often when there is no new gossip a Belle will say “Do you remember when Belle did this with Mr. Who” and your other Belle’s will chime in “Lawd yes, I remember and wasn’t she a brazen, shameless little thing”. Southern Belle’s have very long memories indeed. It's our duty to gossip and we do preform it to the best of our ability. We also enjoy it but there's nothing wrong with enjoying your work.

Y’all behave now or else someone will be talking about you next.