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

Contents:

• THE PREVALENCE OF LISPG GAY MEN
• WHY IS ANY GUY WH A LISP ASSUMED TO BE GAY?
• IS THERE A REASON WHY A LOT OF GAY MEN SPEAK WH A LISP?
• WHY DO GAY GUYS SPEAK WH A LISP??
• THE GAY VOICE
• OF LISPS AND LGUISTICS: THE POWER OF THE GAY VOICE
• THE "GAY" LISP, IS REAL OR IS FORCED?
• WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’
• IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?

THE PREVALENCE OF LISPG GAY MEN

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.

WHY IS ANY GUY WH A LISP ASSUMED TO BE GAY?

Accs through your stutn rights and ntentAbstractThis study evaluated the stereotype that gay men lisp. 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. In the gay mal a signifintly higher prevalence of lispg was found than the heterosexual mal and femal.

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.

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

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.

When Richard Bright ttified before Congrs the other day, someone posted that he noticed Bright's lisp and qutned if he was gay.

WHY DO GAY GUYS SPEAK WH A LISP??

I kd of agree wh R1's rponse, but I'd say 's more like 75% would be my, on a semi-related note, there's an tertg documentary about this topic DO I SOUND GAY? That's part of the reason for the gay associatn, bee a lisp is nsired Anonymoreply 15May 19, 2020 4:04 PM.

I didn't assume Bright was gay bee of the lisp, was his mannerisms that seemed really Anonymoreply 16May 19, 2020 4:30 PM. Bee anythg unattractive that a man do mak him appear "gay" to stupid people, Anonymoreply 39May 22, 2020 9:45 PM.

THE GAY VOICE

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.

OF LISPS AND LGUISTICS: THE POWER OF THE GAY VOICE

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).

It's no secret that many gay men were effemate as kids, playg wh girls' toys, havg a lot of female iends. 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 "GAY" LISP, IS REAL OR IS FORCED?

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. 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.

WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’

Why would they emulate somethg which is looked very down upon by society and even the gay muny for e. 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.

I mean gay men shouldn't be associated wh that annoyg stereotype of an effemate high pched voice and lisp. 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. Two, I want to be visible and approachable to potential gay partners that I wouldn't otherwise get a chance to meet.

IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?

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). Every year, Gallup releas a survey of how many Amerins intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr. Everyone will be eher gay or trans or nonnformg or whatever the list of 50 or 60 different optns there are.

” The edian Bill Maher said on his show that by 2054, if we follow what he se as the current trajectory, “we will all be gay, ” addg that the rise the number of younger people intifyg as transgenr seemed spic. Bee of the fluence of Schorr put siarly Natnal Review: “To suggt that social suggtibily uld be playg a role the skyrocketg numbers of young girls’ exprsg their sire to bee mal, for example, is not of urse to say that gay and transgenr people would not exist whout the topics’ beg discsed the public square. ”This fear is based on an unrstandg of genr and sexualy as alarmgly agile, easily undone by a gay teacher or a trans TikTok fluencer.

This is the first time Amerin history that gay and trans people have been able to live as themselv any real way, wh jobs and marriag and dogs and ts and visibily. After intifyg phoic characteristics that seem to make a man’s voice sound gay, their bt hunch is that some gay men may subnscly adopt certa female speech patterns. They want to know how men acquire this manner of speakg, and why – pecially when society so often stigmatiz those wh gay-soundg voic.