Gaydar—Sendg Mixed Signals | Department of Lguistics | Universy of Colorado Boulr

Contents:

• THE "GAY" LISP, IS REAL OR IS FORCED?
• THE PREVALENCE OF LISPG GAY MEN
• IS THERE A REASON WHY A LOT OF GAY MEN SPEAK WH A LISP?
• OF LISPS AND LGUISTICS: THE POWER OF THE GAY VOICE
• GAY LISP
• THE GAY LISP?
• GAYDAR—SENDG MIXED SIGNALS
• THE FLUENCE OF /S/ QUALY ON RATGS OF MEN'S SEXUAL ORIENTATN: EXPLIC AND IMPLIC MEASUR OF THE ‘GAY LISP’ STEREOTYPE
• WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’

THE "GAY" LISP, IS REAL OR IS FORCED?

The prent study examed the popular stereotype that gay men lisp by evaluatg to what extent listeners associated ntal or ontal articulatn/lispg wh gayns. Based on the ratgs of the listeners of the prent study, lispg speakers were signifintly more often judged to be homosexual. This was te for the group as a whole as well as for the subgroup of homosexual and heterosexual men separately.

The rults of this study nfirmed prev prelimary fdgs that suggted that ontal or ntal articulatn/lispg is a feature that listeners associate wh gayns. Wele back to “Ask a Homo, ” Outward’s no-judgement answer service for all your qutns on LGBTQ polics, culture, etiquette, language, and other queer nundms. This week, Bryan Lowr n-sth-irs the li-sth-p and other elements of the “stereotypil gay manner of speakg”—and honey, ’s jt fabulo!

I am a gay man and this is drivg me crazy bee other aspects of the stereotypil "gay voice" are intifiable (even though they are still homophobic, I at least know what people are referrg to when they talk about them). What the gay man was alludg to was the lisp he had and the expectatn that expected the guy who asked him to classify anyone wh as clearly gay.

THE PREVALENCE OF LISPG GAY MEN

Personally, I don't thk 's found a higher proportn gay men over any other group jt like pretty much any other characteristic but I ma the thread to fd out what the rt of you thk. So my qutn to you GAF is: Is the gay lisp real or is jt a forced thg that some gay men put on to somehow signify that they're gay?

I'd say 's an affectatn that's been so standard for so long that there are probably a lot of gays who don't even realize they're dog . don't thk 's found a higher proportn gay men over any other group jt like pretty much any other characteristic but I ma the thread to fd out what the rt of you thk. You may be nfg wh over-enunciatg certa words and the nce which some gay men speak when they're foolg around, but general most people I know speak like a regular human beg.

IS THERE A REASON WHY A LOT OF GAY MEN SPEAK WH A LISP?

Only one of my gay iends universy had that lisp, and he had basilly e over om Lebanon havg watched a ton of Will & Grace and thkg that's how gay people are supposed to act.

I had two iends high school that had that lisp but tried to tell me they weren't gay even though I pretty much assumed they were. But there's nothg geic that gay people to have a lisp, 's somethg that n be ed by a host of oral/nasal issu. I know a number of gay people who, if they don't have the lisp, they at least have some "tradnal" gay stereotype behavrs.

OF LISPS AND LGUISTICS: THE POWER OF THE GAY VOICE

Maybe a few people naturally have , and I feel AWFUL for them, but 99% of s age is by the kd of gays who look for attentn anywhere they n get , and attract overweight femal wh guy issu like goddamn tubs of Ben & Jerry's. One don't do the lisp, one do most of the time, and the other don't normally but sometim he go stereotypil gay guy and stts out the lisp.

The third one is a kid too so I assume he's jt mimickg what he believ gay people do an attempt to eher seem more gay or lash out at his parents who are hardre Christians who aren't very supportive of him.

GAY LISP

Maybe 's a subnsc behavr when around other gay people to adopt those mannerisms and behavrs to bee more accepted by that muny? It's bizarre to thk that 's geic or somethg so I ually attribute to mimickg the gay people on TV who seem to all have that lisp. It's real to a gree, but 's certaly don't apply to a lot of gay boys and where do manift 's often a subtle upwards tonatn and not the exaggerated stuff you see on TV.

Every article would redirect me to an d terview where he spoke, and judgg by that and the ments, the suggtn beg the evince that he was gay was actually his own voice. My bt iend and his circle don't outwardly project gay until you get to know them better and unrstand their hobbi, fashn tast etc... Two clicians who were unaware of the specific purpose of the study and the populatns volved judged randomized d-rerdgs of 175 gay mal, 100 heterosexual mal and 100 heterosexual femal for the prence of lispg durg readg of a standardized text.

Breakdown of the rults of the gay participants two different age groups showed a higher prevalence of lispg the younger age group than the olr age group. No relatn was found between lispg and age of g-out or lispg and the probabily of beg gay as asssed by a qutnnaire about sexual orientatn. Learng out: The rears of this article will able (1) to discs articulatory behavur as a possible marker that may distguish gay om heterosexual men (2) to discs the prevalence of lispg gay by (0)1aspirant van het Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onrzoek full textCopyright © 2008 Elsevier Inc.

THE GAY LISP?

idk why but the high pched voice and slight lisp (i dont thk lisp is the right word, there's jt somethg that stands out about the S but isnt a full TH noise like a lisp) is very stereotypil of gay guys, but only a uple of the gay guys i know irl actually speak like this. It jt always seemed to me to be a flamboyant thg that immediately poted people out as gay and seems to be much more mon gay celebri famo for beg gay than actual real life people. When media began to place more and more gay men to the spotlight they went wh stereotyped gay men ( you rarely see a gay man the media who isn't Obvly gay) and so the ial for a gay man to anyone growg up on this media was the flamboyant type wh that lisp.

I've been out for over twenty years and known hundreds if not thoands of gay men and I actually n't thk of any who spoke wh a lisp. There are a large amount of gay men I've met that f the stereotype their speakg, but I've never thought "lisp" was the right word.

I have, however, met one boy who was a Sophomore high school who intified as straight who had "the voice" as well.

GAYDAR—SENDG MIXED SIGNALS

Though I thk this uld be the se for some (as they take on "the voice" orr to be noticed and regnized by other gay guys) I have a iend I ma this year who is gay and has the voice, and jt spis gay stereotyp. He hat drag, he hat gay guys who are overly "mpy" and is jt repulsed by all of , he says do nothg for him sexually and he also feels giv the rt of the gay muny a bad name. I fd tertg that there's no clear answer about the "gay lisp" (and y, I know isn't a te lisp, but that is what has e to be lled).

Firstly, YES there are some gay men who talk wh a lisp, or as is probably more accurate to say, wh a certa "accent". My theory is that this probably has somethg to do wh homophobia, or rather how some gay men al wh homophobia.

THE FLUENCE OF /S/ QUALY ON RATGS OF MEN'S SEXUAL ORIENTATN: EXPLIC AND IMPLIC MEASUR OF THE ‘GAY LISP’ STEREOTYPE

I pos that some gay male kids are eher outright rejected by other boys, or choose to distance themselv om boys out of fear of nsequenc.

WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’

I've met hundreds of gay men my life, and the only one that spoke wh a straight-up lisp was the one wh a cleft palate. I learned my psych class that there is a theory that if a man has a lot of olr brothers, he is more likely to be gay.

I thk the stereotyp may be exaggerated by some gay men as a way to rebel agast femy beg seen as weak or femy men beg seen as negative; hence the need to be "fierce" and "fabulo". I feel like if femy men was more accepted society, the stereotype would actually crease bee there would be ls for feme gay men to rebel agast. Y, some gay men are keen on emphasis when speakg and rults a very clear and pronounced 's' or 'z', but we shouldn't mistake for a lisp.