That is the problem with Wiseman and Mean Girls’ uniform dismissal of gossip as a social necessity. As Resnick wrote, “A young person indoctrinated never to ‘talk about people behind their backs’ (Cady’s definition of gossip), will not report a case of drug-dealing or vandalism in the school or (if one wants to exempt illegal activities from the gossip rule—itself the exercise of judgment) a friend’s bulimic vomiting or depression.”
