Gender & History · 2009 · 33 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesGender StudiesSociologyGender HistoryMasculinity StudiesSocial HistoryHegemonic MasculinityMasculinity HistoryMen's HistoryTheories Of MasculinityDiffuse Social ControlElite MasculinityManhood IdealsMasculine IdealsMen’s Life HistoriesModern MasculinityPeriodical LiteraturePeriodical Publishing
Gossip functions as a tool of social control, a phenomenon most evident in nineteenth‑century London gentlemen’s clubs. The article investigates how elite men’s gossip shaped class and gender ideals by examining their private lives. The study draws on archival documents, private memoirs, and periodical literature to provide both insider and outsider perspectives of this private world. Analysis shows that gossip reveals codes of gentlemanly behavior, underscores the importance of homosocial life, and highlights the role of oral culture in a modern, literate age.
Gossip is not only a guilty pleasure; it is also an important tool of social control. Nowhere is this more evident than in the nineteenth‐century gentlemen's clubs of London. This article looks at the private lives of elite men whose gossip helped shape class and gender ideals. Archival documents, private memoirs and periodical literature provide both an insider and outsider vision of a very private world. Looking at how men gossiped points to codes of gentlemanly behaviour, the importance of homosocial life, and the place of oral culture in a modern, literate age.