Te Tengo Un Chisme

Pssst – te tengo un chisme.

Chisme is a loose translation of the word gossip in English, however, this interpretation isn’t the most accurate. The word “gossip” has a negative connotation and “a casual conversation typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.” However, chisme is another story; it is a form of oral communication predominantly used within Latine communities to bring people together.

However, chisme is another story; it is a form of oral communication predominantly used within Latine communities to bring people together.

I vividly remember my mother sitting at our dining table, usually on the phone with one of my aunts who still lives in Mexico. She would hold her phone in one hand and in the other she’d either be writing on a piece of paper or stirring a pot for dinner. Typically, these conversations would consist of catching up on any new events with our family back in Mexico or asking how my grandparents are doing. I could see that my mother valued the time spent on the phone chismeando with her siblings.

The long-distance aspect of my mom’s relationship with her siblings plays a role in how they speak to each other. Since my mom lives in the U.S., it is much more difficult to stay up to date with our family still in Mexico. Her phone calls are much more than a quick check-up, but rather an opportunity to bond with her siblings through shared stories.

Although I have many personal memories with the act of chisme, this is also a common experience amongst other Latines. Chisme provides a way for Latine women to communicate and connect with other women. Telling someone some juicy news that you’ve heard would be followed by hearing more news–even if it might not always be their own.

But where did chisme originate from? The origin of chisme is believed to have stemmed from women developing their own social sphere. Historically, a social sphere is defined as a space where politics and other social issues are discussed. However, these conversations often left out women and thus led to the development of their form of communication. In Latino USA’s “Chisme: An Ancestral Language,” author Dr. Ana Rodríguez Navas explains that as men took notice of women’s growth in their own public sphere, men tried to make chisme seem like a bad habit. This ties into the gendered notion that “women gossip more” because their conversations did not seem as relevant to those of men.

Chisme has gone through many evolutions from spreading information among the uninformed to neighbors talking about the latest community news. With time, it has evolved to become a more casual transaction of information. Now, most tidbits of chisme usually involve some sort of gasp-worthy information. However, over time, the definition of chisme has begun to take a negative connotation, linking its purpose to putting down other people. Although this may be true in some cases, not all chisme has bad intentions. This also leads back to the misconception that chisme is gossip, which by definition is usually described as talking badly about another personThis Western interpretation glorifies gossip culture and the practice of belittlement among people.

Chismeando– or however you call the time you spend with friends/loved ones in a conversation that has you at the edge of your seat– may not be as glorified as Western ideologies put it. There is nothing wrong with the act of sharing some interesting news; it’s more than a conversation but a method of creating and strengthening a bond. So the next time you meet up with your friends, don’t be shy to share some chisme. You may never know, you might become better friends.