The Fear of "What They Say": How Gossip Regulates Sexual Exploration among Migrants in Europe
The Fear of "What They Say": How Gossip Regulates Sexual Exploration among Migrants in Europe

Author(s): Sherria Ayuandini, Oğuz Alyanak
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Europe; migration; gossip; sexual exploration; gender; culture;
Summary/Abstract: Extant literature on gossip is vast. Since the earlier days of discussion on the topic, which divided anthropologists over functionalist and methodological individualist camps (Gluckman, 1963; Paine, 1967; Gilmore, 1978), there have been calls for clarification of the term. In this paper, we operationalize gossip as “the fear of what they say”. Our approach to gossip reflects communal dynamics among the populations we study, Turks in Amsterdam and Strasbourg, where the fear of what other people might say (“elalem ne der?”) constitutes a reality that shapes how one acts. As we take gossip as an effective controlling mechanism that works through fear, we also delve into the larger anxieties that are argued to threaten the communities in which we conduct our ethnographic fieldwork. One such anxiety emanates from the possibilities of sexual exploration that life in Amsterdam and Strasbourg brings. In both cities, the fear of young (and sometimes old and married) men and women “fooling around” puts the youth under the spotlight as potential candidates for misdemeanor. In both contexts, we witnessed a growing anxiety over second and third generation Turks’ engagement with extra and pre marital affairs. The fear of becoming gossip material, which could not only tarnish one’s reputation, but in some cases lead to more dire consequences, is a reality that our informants do not overlook. Both in Amsterdam and Strasbourg, the young Turkish women and men we talked to are well aware of moral boundaries that determine the do’s and don’ts of communal life. However, rather than reorienting their actions in line with cultural norms, our informants invent tactics (de Certeau 1984) to navigate intra-community surveillance. How they continue to live their lives amidst surveillance is a topic that we look further into in this paper.

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