Meaning of whisper network | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Any informal network of people who share information or gossip.
2. An informal network of women privately sharing information, typically of people alleged to be sexual harassers, abusers, or rapists.

Examples

“There is a whisper network in Bisbee, of codes and messages telling weary crossers where they can stay, safely hidden from the border patrol.”

“Earlier families ensured that proper lists and accounts were prepared and the groom's family was made to sign on the list of things they received while the dowry itself was put on display for all the relatives […] Today, no lists are signed and most of the giving and receiving is shrouded in secrecy and made known only through whisper networks within the social circle.”

“Cold calling at two or three favourite bookstores usually sorts out distribution. And word of mouth, which nowadays includes whisper networks like Facebook, helps spread the good news.”

“[…]Luzio hosts free monthly whisper network dinners for members […] During the dinner, they’ll share work challenges, and are encouraged to ask any taboo question that may be preventing them from succeeding.”

“Bluntly: the Loon is part of the whisper network, because there are a very few librarians and library technologists whose behavior in the Loon’s presence does not incline the Loon to trust them to treat a young, conventionally-attractive female professional like a human being rather than an object of either aggressive sexual interest or airy dismissive scorn. There are a few more the Loon would not trust to treat a queer person like a human being. And just because the Loon cannot presently think of any professional acquaintances capable of consciously racist acts hardly means that there are none.”

“Since the police and most organizations are completely inept at actually doing anything about allegations of sexualized violence, women often depend on this whisper network to help keep them away from serial harassers and rapists who’ve never been held accountable.”

“The truth is whisper networks were never meant to be the end-all solution for harassment and abuse; they’re triage. We just want to stop the bleeding.”

“In one of her characteristic ironies, she underlines the necessity of these female whisper networks in Pride and Prejudice by having the heroine Elizabeth disbelieve everything she hears from other women about rake-masquerading-as-virtuous-man George Wickham.”

CEFR level