The gay voice explained
Gay male speech has been the focus of numerous modern stereotypes, as well as sociolinguistic studies, particularly within North American English. Scientific research has uncovered phonetically significant features produced by many gay men and demonstrated that listeners accurately guess speakers' sexual orientation at rates greater than chance.
By JOHN ELY, DEPUTY HEALTH EDITOR. Published: BST, 16 October Updated: BST, 16 October High pitched, extended vowels and incredibly articulated: so-called 'gay voice' is a real phenomenon, researchers say.
Self-conscious about the way he speaks, David Thorpe has explored why some people in his community ‘sound gay’ and others don’t in a new documentary.
They might speak in higher pitches and a more melodious groove to their speech. But is the gay accent even real? And if it is, why does it even exist?
Gay male speech has been the focus of numerous modern stereotypes, as well as sociolinguistic studies, particularly within North American English. Scientific research has uncovered phonetically significant features produced by many gay men and demonstrated that listeners accurately guess speakers' sexual orientation at rates greater than chance.
Published 29 July am. Updated 8 January pm. Share this with family and friends.
Self-conscious about the way he speaks, David Thorpe has explored why some people in his community ‘sound gay’ and others don’t in a new documentary.
On the Friday-night train journey he found himself surrounded by loud chattering gay men. He felt repelled. As soon as I started speaking to my peers, I discovered that our voice was something that most, if not all, of us had thought about at some point and had anxiety about.