Why do gay guys lisp
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The idea that all gay men have a lisp is a harmful stereotype. They want to know how men acquire this manner of speaking, and why – especially when society so often stigmatizes those with gay-sounding voices.
Rogers and Smyth are also exploring the stereotypes that gay men sound effeminate and are recognized by the way they speak.
Homosexuality was illegal in England until 1967.
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“In 19th century England, gay circus performers needed a way to hide from undercover policemen, so they developed an entire slang system called Polari to secretly signal to each other.
The also talk in a special way to pets, and code switch constantly when they provide voices for the characters in their imaginary games.
Prior to four and a half (at least) lisping is age appropriate.
Searching for Phonetic Correlates of Gay- and Straight-Sounding Voices. Sometimes the term "code" is used, and sometimes "register" or "speech style".
People who speak more than one language fluently become extremely proficient in code switching or 'language alternation' - that amazing ability bilingual or multilingual people have to flip from one language to another, adjusting much more than simply the words they utter.
Code switching can include 'code mixing' - saying part of an utterance in one language, register or style, and part in another, or combining the grammatical conventions of one language or style with the words of another.
For example, Australian aboriginal children may switch between "talking flash" (using Standard Australian English) and "talking language" (speaking an Aboriginal language or creole) and speaking Aboriginal English, often mixing the four registers.
How would they answer the question:
Do you believe that there is a higher rate of femininity [among boys who are in therapy for lisping] than among other boys?
The question suggests that there is a higher rate of femininity among boys who identify, or who later identify, as gay than there is among other boys.
Outgoing individuals may speak more expressively, while shy individuals may speak more softly or hesitantly.
The question, Do you believe that there is a higher rate of femininity than among other boys? was easy for me to answer in relation to my own caseload.
Among the hundreds of children under seven I have treated for lisping the breakdown has been about 40% girls and 60% boys.
Personally, I have been around so many lisping males of all ages (including fathers and sons) for so long that I find it very difficult to think of it as a feminine characteristic.
For about 27 years I practiced in the same location, in Sydney, Australia, drawing on the same geographical area for about 70% of my caseload. They asked people to listen to recordings of 25 men, 17 of them gay.
Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics, 18, 46-64.
Harvard linguistics 'nerd' shoots down the biggest misconception about the gay 'accent'
The gay community isn’t monolithic, so it’s incorrect to say there is a gay “accent” as if they were from another country or region. In the past, when homosexuality was more heavily stigmatized and suppressed, gay men often sought ways to identify each other discreetly.
One hypothesis is that given the stereotype many gay men may actually take on a dentalized or interdental /s/ pattern as an indirect statement about wanting to identify with, and be a part of, the gay community. After three years of research, linguistics professors Henry Rogers and Ron Smyth may be on the verge of answering that question.
“The straightest-sounding voice in the study was in fact a gay man, and the sixth gayest-sounding voice was a straight man.”
Responding to the search terms 'gay + lisp', dependable Google led me to Gays in the Media by a student writer, Rachel Brandsma. In 19th Century England gay circus performers spoke Polari and in the 20th Century Philippines, Swardspeak was spoken.
In 19th century England gay circus performers needed a way to hide from undercover policemen so they developed an entire slang system called Polari to secretly signal to each other.
Duration of Onset Consonants in Gay Male Stereotyped Speech. It is the last frontier, as it were, of inveterate, unreasonable, hatred." Rabbi Alexander Schindler 1925-2000
Bowen, C. (2002).