Saturday, May 3, 2014

Do You Sound Gay? An Updated Commentary

Thanks to Wicked Gay Blog for passing this along. The documentary will be produced with backing through Kick-starter, if you are interested in supporting it. (click the the K in the top left corner of the video).

It is a phenomenon I've always wondered about. Is it real? Is it genetic? Do a lot of gay men "sound" gay?




Here's the link if the video won't play here. 

Here is my personal observation:


My own unscientific observation of the phenomenon suggests that there is a "range" of specific vocal types or inflections among many, but perhaps not all, gay men.

But I really don't think most gay men deliberately or unconsciously imitate female inflections or mannerisms - though maybe some do - because the vocal patterns and inflections and mannerisms that are considered "effeminate" are not really "feminine" at all.

At the extreme end of the scale, the vocal patterns of gay men are not at all like those of women and girls. In the mid-range of the scale are gay voices that are not considered "effeminate" but still have a quality or characteristic that seems uniquely gay. I guess I am a determinist at heart - I believe in the wide-reaching influence of genetics as the most likely common denominator.

I'm surprised we are not aware of many studies (without  doing a Google search e.g. HERE), of the speech and voices of gay men. The one study I cited seems not to have a definitive conclusion and others I perused seem to obsess about lisping. In my unscientific observation, there are so many gay men who do not have "effeminate" sounding voices or lisps, but who still have a certain "gay" sound; others sound about as "masculine" as one could be.

The current documentary seems to be a subjective study rather than a scientific one: a conversation about one of the aspects of gayness that has been stigmatized and/or celebrated. Should be interesting, nonetheless.

Interesting thread HERE.

8 comments:

Russ Manley said...

Before looking at the vid, yes of course it's real - yes lots of gay men sound "gay" - it's because whatever the factor is that makes us gay also makes most us inclined to imitate our mothers, sisters, or other significant females in their patterns and inflections of speech, as well as in other things. This is no mystery, it's plain as day, always has been.

After lunch I'll watch the vid and comment futher.

Russ Manley said...

Damn, I can't get the vid to play on either Explorer or Chrome, or even going straight to the website. Guess I'll have to wait until somebody posts it on YouTube.

Frank said...

Here's the link to their web site:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/117088046/do-i-sound-gay-a-documentary-about-finding-your-tr

or try Wicked Gay Blog's post:
http://www.wickedgayblog.com/2014/05/do-i-sound-gay-do-you-sound-gay.html

Russ Manley said...

Won't play for me on either of those sites. Lots of stuff has been screwed up since the first of the year - I think the software companies deliberately do that to make you buy a new computer, but it's not in my budget.

Stan said...

Interesting. I don't think I sound gay. I've never been bullied or told I do but when I hear my own voice (like that one guy in the video said) I think I sound gay.
I have met and known other guys with a really gay sounding, effeminate voice and I have to confess it sometimes makes me uncomfortable.

Stan said...

BTW: the links work for me. thanks.

Frank said...

I will be adding this comment to the body of the post as my personal observation:

My own unscientific observation of the phenomenon suggests that there is a "range" of specific vocal types or inflections among many, but perhaps not all, gay men.

But I really don't think most gay men deliberately or unconsciously imitate female inflections or mannerisms - though maybe some do - because the vocal patterns and inflections and mannerisms that are considered "effeminate" are not really "feminine" at all.

At the extreme end of the scale, the vocal patterns of gay men are not at all like those of women and girls. In the mid-range of the scale are gay voices that are not considered "effeminate" but still have a quality or characteristic that seems uniquely gay. I guess I am a determinist at heart - I believe in the wide-reaching influence of genetics as the most likely common denominator.

I'm surprised that no one, as far as I am aware (without doing a Google search), has studied the speech and voices of gay men. the current documentary seems to be a subjective study rather than a scientific one. Should be interesting, nonetheless.

Moving with Mitchell said...

This is fascinating and gave me a little shiver! Thanks so much for sharing this.

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