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Author Topic:   Why Do Gay Men Sound Gay?
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1445 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 1 of 165 (779161)
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


Some gay men really do "sound gay" and to me it doesn't sound feminine as some claim, or like a "lisp" as some put it, it is its own thing. I was reminded of this by the post on the Humor thread of Trump speaking with a gay voice. Distinctively unmistakably gay.
Here's an article about someone who made a documentary about it , how gay men try not to sound gay. But I don't think it really explains what it is in the first place and how it comes about.
Curious what opinions you all have about it.

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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


(2)
Message 2 of 165 (779163)
03-01-2016 12:14 PM


I never noticed that gay men sounded gay anywhere but in the imagination of the theater and entertainment.

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

  
Taq
Member
Posts: 9973
Joined: 03-06-2009
Member Rating: 5.7


(2)
Message 3 of 165 (779167)
03-01-2016 12:39 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


Here's an article about someone who made a documentary about it , how gay men try not to sound gay. But I don't think it really explains what it is in the first place and how it comes about.
The same thing that causes Aussies to sound like Aussies, Brits to sound like Brits, and Hillbillies to sound like Hillbillies.

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1.61803
Member (Idle past 1504 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


Message 4 of 165 (779177)
03-01-2016 3:11 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


Hi Faith,
I watched the documentary "Do I Sound Gay?"
and thought it was both entertaining and informative.
Apparently the writer and producer David Thorpe who is openly gay, did not always talk the way he does. He developed the "campy" lispy effeminate style of speech, hanging out with his campy, lispy and effeminant friends. Most of the change of his speaking style took place in his early college years once he left the house.
The documentary is careful to also show that there are also straight men who sound campy, lispy and effeminant.
So one can "imprint" on those who they spend a great deal of time around and also those who are role models according to some of the films speech experts. This is one of the most common ways we as humans mimic the voices around us. Sometimes subconsciously and sometimes on purpose.
So the answer is???? There is no concrete answer.
The Film indicates it is a stereo type to be sure but also one that is acted out on purpose to the point of sometimes becoming habitual.
Watch the documentary if you get a chance.
Edited by 1.61803, : change speach to speech
Edited by 1.61803, : added David Thorpe

"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


(1)
Message 5 of 165 (779180)
03-01-2016 3:30 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by 1.61803
03-01-2016 3:11 PM


I always thought Gay men sounded like Rock Hudson.

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

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1.61803
Member (Idle past 1504 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


Message 6 of 165 (779181)
03-01-2016 3:33 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by jar
03-01-2016 3:30 PM


They do. ...**some do I should say. sorry.
Liberace and Paul Lynn as well.
Let me add: There is no known "Gay" way to talk as the documentary points out. It is a stereotype.
Edited by 1.61803, : some do..

"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

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frako
Member (Idle past 306 days)
Posts: 2932
From: slovenija
Joined: 09-04-2010


Message 7 of 165 (779183)
03-01-2016 4:08 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


Its how the homosexual daemons that posses them sound duh..
Its just a stereotipe, i have a friend that sounds gay as shit but is straight even though everyone he ever meats thinks he is gay.

Christianity, One woman's lie about an affair that got seriously out of hand
What are the Christians gonna do to me ..... Forgive me, good luck with that.

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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


(1)
Message 8 of 165 (779186)
03-01-2016 4:30 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by 1.61803
03-01-2016 3:11 PM


So one can "imprint" on those who they spend a great deal of time around...
It doesn't even take that long. When I used to travel a lot for my job, my accent would change to wherever I was.
Spend a week in Canada, come home and my girlfriend says I sound more Canadian.
Spend a week Texas, come home and my girlfriend says I sound more Southern.
It'd always wear off back to standard after a couple days.
I found it easier, during my travels, to get along and blend in with the locals better if I didn't fight what was customary, but it still seemed totally involuntary and subconscious for my accent to change.
Oh yeah, I used to have a British friend that had been living in the states most his life who'd go back home every once in a while and he always had a British accent for about a week when he got back... but then it'd gradually fade away back to normal.

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1.61803
Member (Idle past 1504 days)
Posts: 2928
From: Lone Star State USA
Joined: 02-19-2004


Message 9 of 165 (779187)
03-01-2016 4:46 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by New Cat's Eye
03-01-2016 4:30 PM



"You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs

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nwr
Member
Posts: 6408
From: Geneva, Illinois
Joined: 08-08-2005
Member Rating: 5.1


Message 10 of 165 (779192)
03-01-2016 5:52 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


Some gay men really do "sound gay" ...
I have never noticed it. Is it possible that your imagination is playing tricks?

Fundamentalism - the anti-American, anti-Christian branch of American Christianity

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jar
Member (Idle past 394 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 11 of 165 (779193)
03-01-2016 5:55 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by nwr
03-01-2016 5:52 PM


It's neccessary
so God will know to smite them, their Nation and the horse they rode in on.

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

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coffee_addict
Member (Idle past 477 days)
Posts: 3645
From: Indianapolis, IN
Joined: 03-29-2004


Message 12 of 165 (779212)
03-01-2016 7:55 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


It's not that some gay men sound "gay", it's that at some point in their lives they have stopped trying to sound all macho and masculine. So, instead of forcing themselves to talk in a straight voice, they began to be more artistic about their voices and add inflections and other traits that people like you deem "gay".
Having said that, many straight guys have begun doing this as well. It's not "gay". It's just being less boring with their voices.

If you say the word "gullible" slowly, it sounds like oranges. Go ahead and try it.

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Theodoric
Member
Posts: 9076
From: Northwest, WI, USA
Joined: 08-15-2005
Member Rating: 3.7


Message 13 of 165 (779216)
03-01-2016 8:21 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Faith
03-01-2016 11:55 AM


What is amazing is that your bigotry seems to know no bounds. What possessed you to think this was a topic worth discussing?
You have a vile stereotype for everyone that is different than you. Crawl back under your rock.
Edited by Theodoric, : No reason given.

Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
"God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness.

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Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1445 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 14 of 165 (779218)
03-01-2016 8:26 PM


Did anybody go listen to that gay voiceover of Trump on the Humor thread? Seems to me you have a tin ear if you don't recognize that as a gay voice. And it was so identified, too. And as I said it doesn't sound feminine to me, it is its own thing. And since it IS recognizable as gay it suggests there really aren't all that many varieties of it as someone here suggested.
I can see how you could pick it up by hanging around the gay community but how many acquire it that way? I'd guess not many. And you still have to explain how it developed in the first place.
Trying not to sound macho? OK, that's a theory.

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Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1445 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 15 of 165 (779225)
03-01-2016 8:52 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by Theodoric
03-01-2016 8:21 PM


Be careful. You could blow an artery spewing all that hatred.

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