ABSTRACT
A rumor is a collective product resulting from the participation of many individuals. Particular roles in this dynamic process are, nevertheless, carefully distributed. Investigators have indeed been able to witness the spontaneous emergence of a rumor in a limited group setting and study its evolution. The rumor's origin was determinable: the secretary of the former tenants' union spoke with a neighbor about his ruminations. A rumor's power often resides in the fact that it conveys information that justifies one's intuition or fulfills a barely formulated wish. To speak of women in connection with rumors is to expose oneself to being accused of trotting out crude, old-fashioned antifeminist stereotypes. It is nevertheless a fact that an association exists between women and rumors in popular culture. The problem raised by the intelligentsia's attitude towards certain rumors is part and parcel of a more all-encompassing problem.
