Is There a “Gay Voice”? | The New Yorker

Contents:

• WHAT DO IT MEAN TO SOUND GAY?
• THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
• WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’
• THE GAY VOICE
• THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE
• SWARDSPEAK: THE COLORFUL LANGUAGE OF THE FILIPO GAY COMMUNY
• GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)
• IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?
• WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?
• FROM CLOSET TALK TO PC TERMOLOGY : GAY SPEECH AND THE POLICS OF VISIBILY

WHAT DO IT MEAN TO SOUND GAY?

The film is stctured around his personal qut to get rid of his “gay voice”—recently sgle and middle-aged, David Thorpe began to fd his voice a source of anxiety, worryg turned off potential lovers—which grounds what uld otherwise have been a disparate web of amic theori and talkg heads. That spurred him to look more systematilly at the gay voice self; eventually he realized he’d found somethg signifint to say about the subject, a talogue of people reflectg about the history, prevalence, signifince, and science of the voice ’s clear om his enthiasm and breadth of knowledge that Thorpe, a wrer wh an quisive personaly and a voice I found entirely pleasant, has enough material for a whole seri on the subject. ” In the film, Thorpe nsults a speech therapist, a voice ach, several lguists and anthropologists, a film historian, gay actors, and famo queer celebri cludg David Sedaris, Dan Savage, Tim Gunn, Don Lemon, Gee Takei, and Margaret Cho.

Admtg that a roomful of gay voic n be annoyg giv space to pick apart anxieti—which parts are jt annoyance at other people’s nversatns, and which are tied to toxic the film velops, be apparent that much of what we intify as a gay voice is a characteristilly feme voice spoken by a man.

To prove his pot, Thorpe shows a straight man who was raised on an ashram by a group of women, who talks a voice that would tonate most people’s gaydar; but he also troduc to a gay man raised the suburbs wh five macho brothers who has the sort of voice that porn actors strive for.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”

Knows this herage, plac the ntext of film history, and ti to the vol spiratn for well known early gay voic on TV such as Liberace and Pl what drew gay men om across the untry and enomic strata to adopt the vol signifiers? It rais a plited discsn about gay pri, lgerg homophobia, disguised misogyny, and the extent to which we all alter the image that we prent to the the film begs, Thorpe is disturbed bee he realiz he don’t like his voice any more.

But so dog, v everyone to thk about what their own voice says about who they are, where they me om, and where they want to science of “the gay voice”To start wh, the stereotypil “gay voice” isn’t necsarily a study published 2003, Ron Smyth, a lguist at the Universy of Toronto, found that participants readily separated rerdgs of 25 diverse voic to those who “sound gay” and those who “sound straight. In Smyth's study, people rrectly gused a man’s sexualy about 60 percent of the time, only a ltle better than another small study at the Universy of Hawaii, both gay and straight listeners were equally as likely to misclassify people as gay or straight. In fact, the straight men wh so-lled gay voic weren't aware that people thought they sound gay at turns out that what most people perceive as a stereotypil "gay voice" is jt a male voice that sounds more stereotypilly feme -- maly, higher pched and more melod.

And that often has more to do wh the voic that a person intified wh as they grew up, rather than and other rearchers say some men, both gay and straight, velop more feme voic bee they are fluenced by women when they are young. If you've ever found yourself talkg to someone wh a different accent and gradually emulatg them, you're faiar wh the gay men, adoptg what's lled "mp" -- a theatril gay accent, like an old-school starlet -- n be a way of embracg their inty.

WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’

However, the difference wasn’t the stereotypil “gay voice, ” but a tenncy to e a more ntemporary, pan-Amerin accent, rather than the old-fashned Mnota accent (like  the movie “Fargo") says that the gay men he terviewed may have wanted to nvey an inty that is more stylish and cuttg edge. ” shows that even men who are out and proud may still rry wh them some shame about havg a stereotypil “gay voice, ” even if those feelgs are Savage, a gay activist and thor, argu  the film that this is a natural nsequence of boys beg bullied for walkg and talkg a certa way when they are young.

As Thorpe pots out the film, there have long been public entertaers or artists wh stereotypilly “gay voic” – Liberace or Tman Capote, for example -- but few people openly talked about their when characters wh “gay” mannerisms or voic appeared popular culture, they were sometim d wh negative or sid the 1940s on, Amerin film saw the rise of a sni, supercil, and vaguely gay villa, startg wh the manipulative Clifton Webb the tective noir film “Lra.

” That tradn of the effete, aristocratic villa has lived example, film historian Richard Barrs argu  the film that many of the Disney villas have simperg voic or mannerisms that are subtly – or not so subtly – stereotypilly gay, cludg Prce John "Rob Hood, " Sr "The Ln Kg, " and many more, In an terview, Thorpe poted out what he viewed as one particularly egreg example – the bad guy the 2012 Disney animated film “Wreck-It Ralph.

THE GAY VOICE

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA supposed requt for a webse for a same-sex weddg played a mor role a major clash between ee speech and gay rights at the Supreme Supreme Court led last week that a Colorado graphic signer has the right to refe to create webs for same-sex Jiang for The New York TimAfter the Supreme Court led last week that a Colorado graphic signer has the right to refe to create webs for same-sex marriag, crics of the cisn raised qutns about a form clud urt papers the se that appeared to show that a gay uple had sought the servic of the signer, Lorie man who supposedly submted the form said he was unaware of s existence until a reporter for The New Republic lled him. The basels claim that chemils – particularly tap water – uld turn people gay has gaed populary wh nspiracy theorists over the years, most memorably wh nservative rad host Alex Jon, who said chemils the water were “turng the igg’ ogs gay. It is the “gay lgo” or “gay speak” rived om English and Tagalog (one of the languag spoken the Republic of the Philipp) as well as other languag and dialects the Philipp, such as Cebuano, Waray, Bilano and Hiligaynon.

Until then homosexual actors, micians, athlet or anyone the public eye had two choic life: to keep their homosexualy a secret, pecially om the media, or adopt the mannerisms and a of drs which were very mp but at the same time (ironilly) never admtg their sexual preferenc publicly. Tom Robson released a very succsful song entled (Sg if you're) Glad to be Gay, was the mid-70s, and I was still at a Catholic primary school when I remember que distctly hearg gay beg ed for the first time to unteract the BrEng rogatory terms such as: poofter, poof, queer, not normal, fairy and queen that were rife at the time. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to sign Hoe Bill 1557, a proposed law that supporters ll the “Parental Rights Edutn” bill and opponents refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” lleague Dana Goldste has done a close readg of the bill self, which is about much more than gay rights.

Sentence has earned the bill the “Don’t Say Gay” nickname:L 97-101: Classroom stctn by school personnel or third parti on sexual orientatn or genr inty may not occur krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state impact is clear enough: Instctn on genr and sexualy would be nstraed all gras. That uld disurage a teacher om speakg about gay fai wh the whole class, even if some stunts have gay bill also targets mental health and unselg servic — a place where stunts often have difficult nversatns about genr inty and sexualy, pecially if they stggle to talk about those nversatns at as Florida revis s school unselg standards, adopted 2010, which affirm genr and sexual diversy unselg. Acrdg to Pl Baker, foremost lguistic expert Polari, this secret language, far om beg a lorful fad that jt fell out of fashn (before beg cryptilly revived by Bowie) was val to the many gay men who ed to munite wh each other unr the radar—at least until homosexualy stopped beg a crime the late sixti, renrg the secret language somewhat obsolete.

THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

It’s a phenomenon that seems to replite across different cultur, such as Bahasa Gay, a gay speech style of Indonia, which has ma s way to mastream Indonian life whout the public beg particularly aware that gay people even exist. Ad libbed by the reputedly bisexual Cary Grant, mastream dienc would not have unrstood the slang term, and passed right unr the nose of the Hays Office, which strictly enforced the censorship of such unspeakable thgs as homosexual referenc film.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE

This genr-nformg group, known as the homophile movement, directed their genr anxieti and anger toward more flamboyant members of the queer subculture who were out there the open, givg the rt of them a fabuloly bad name.

SWARDSPEAK: THE COLORFUL LANGUAGE OF THE FILIPO GAY COMMUNY

At any rate, this near-universal lguistic practice of gay cultur everywhere, along wh other “swish” stereotyp, was strenuoly rejected by the mascule-intified homophile movement of the 50s and 60s as a perversn of language as well as social norms. One of the few proment homophile magaz of the day, ONE, equently featured anti-swish sentiments om their gay rears, which largely ternalized public anxieti and prejudic about overt homosexual stereotyp: “The flamg faggot who swish up Lexgton Avenue New York Cy screamg and llg attentn to his eccentrici sets back homosexualy, ” “I thk that the people who ll each other ‘she, ’ etc., are sick, ” and fally “STAMP OUT QUEENS!

GAY (HOMOSEXUAL) AND GAY (HAPPY)

Milant tout tant que ludique, ce langage se vt également le défensr d’un certa style vie, cherchant à exprimer, manière la pl visible, poliquement rrecte et effice qui so, la richse s portements et s cultur du mon gay. 2Funny and provotive as may seem, this msage posted on Kks & Queens, a gay Swedish webse, not only reveals a visibily and culture that the Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr muny was long pelled to hh, but also nfirms the existence of a lexin not que like standard English. From the darker ag when homosexualy was at s bt a s and/or a perversn until the prent environment of rabow flags and gay pris, gayspeak has been ed to transgrs social norms, articulate particular needs and emotns, as well as renstct, or re-terpret, realy.

IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?

When to elaborate polilly rrect fns of the « queer » universe, pk talk displays an extraordary plexy of sexual orientatns and subcultur, a possible means to pensate for lguistic ficiency and to claim a gay space on the social spectm. Most male homosexuals therefore kept their sexual orientatns very much the closet unls amidst their k when they lled each other female nam—« Miss Kten », « Cha Mary », « Primrose Mary », and « Dip-Candle Mary »3—, a practice still faiar among ntemporary gay men. Until World War Two, rearch on what was then labeled the « language of homosexualy » foced on genr versn, wh homosexualy beg regard as a pathology characterized as sexual viance or perversn: whereas heterosexual language equated wh the appropriate genr, homosexual language displayed equent aquaci between the physil genr and the lguistic genr of the speaker.

In the reprsive and secury-ncerned Cold War environment4, to talk about themselv, most gays and lbians relied upon phemisms such as « iends of Dorothy(‘s) », (after The Wizard of Oz, 1939, a classic mil popular wh gay dienc), « whoopsi », « (s)he’s is a ltle... Dpe the achievements of gay rights, the stigma attached to a « love that dare not [always] speak s name », to quote Osr Wil, ocsnally lgers the way some gays e « them » to refer to their partners and « refully word speech to hi explic genr referenc »16. For many Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr—or LGBT17—people today, pk talk works as a hive force agast discrimatn, although they also adm that gay exprsns have actually shifted om the physil nfement of the 18th century molly ho to a lguistic nfement.

5Sce 1993 [, ] the Amerin Universy Washgton DC has been home to annual nferenc on Lavenr Language and Lguistics, wh Lavenr19 Language beg fed as the way « lbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgenred persons and queers e language everyday life »20. Leap mentned two other « betiful exampl »: whereas gay speech « pcher » intifi the sexually active dividual and « tcher » the receptive person, « If we say pcher or we say tcher, an ordary nversatn, I thk ’s unlikely that [straight people] would read anythg else to . Whereas some lbians tend to speak at a lower pch than straight women—and their range of pch is lser than that of straight women29—the typil high pched disurse and adorned talks of some gay men, not necsarily of the effemate type, is another equent give-away.

WHAT DO ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ ACTUALLY SAY?

Food metaphors are not unmon, such as seafood (gay sailors) and related sailor queens (men whose primary tert is sailors), tuna (young gay sailors), jam (younger men), angel food (gay men the air force), rice queens (men attracted to Asians), ernment spected meat (a gay man the armed forc) to be found meat racks (gay male cisg areas).

Apts of the Scene (the gay club circu) attend whe parti, where Amy-Johns (after Amazons), lipstick lbians35 (stylishly drsed a tradnally feme way), and chapstick lbians (who do not wear make-up and are very much to sports)36 meet wh leather dyk, tomboys, and lemons (lbians). As for gym bunni/queens (gay men who work out a gym), and mcle Mari (more effemate gym queens) who are a h among mcle queens (men who prefer mcular men), they will jo flamers (effemate gay men), baby Crocketts (psdo-wboys), and label queens (signers’ fashn victims)37. The yearly gay pris which take place most Amerin ci, the midst of ribbons, lorful paras, and mil shows, are a clear signal, as the name dite, that there is pri beg members of the « fay », a term the gay muny sometim appli to self39.

In this ebullience, Bce Rodger’s landmark The Queen’s Vernacular was released (1972), followed, to mentn jt a few, by Joseph Hay’s « Gayspeak » (1976) and « Language and Language Behavr of Lbian and Gay Men » (1978‑1979), Leonard R. Pl Baker himself, who has nducted terviews among the Brish LGTB populatn, rearched gay archiv and d gay and lbian chats on the ter, released Fantabulosa: A Dictnary of Polari and Gay Slang 200242, wh 1, 700 entri rived om terviews, archiv, and gay and lbian web chats43.

FROM CLOSET TALK TO PC TERMOLOGY : GAY SPEECH AND THE POLICS OF VISIBILY

The ter has s share, upon which the prent study has been partially based, such as the onle Dictnary of Gay Slang and Historil Terms, Flampeak, Queer Slang the Gay 90, Rebec Stt’s A Brief Dictnary of Queer Slang and Culture (1997), Matt & Andrej Koymasky’s GLTB Slang Dictnary (last updated 2005), and Robert Owen Stt’s prehensive Wizard Gay Slang Dictnary (last updated 2003)44. Whereas the 1960s gay and lbian scholars took a stake the polil advancement of homosexuals, directly enuragg the olr generatn to e the Lavenr language, gay youths cid to avoid what they nsired a relic of the past ( England, some claimed Polari to be « silly, femisg and outdated »45). In the mid-1970s and 1980s, however, the divisns between homosexuals flated, strengtheng the hn of the muny as well as a new approach of homosexualy which was fed terms of opprsed mory inty: after the manner of Ain-Amerins who promoted Black English vernacular, LGBT people found logil to adopt a specific language, although as we noted before, gayspeak has always been more a lexin than a language wh s proper grammatil and phonologil l.