The last four years I've kept a blog in spanish, in which one of the most popular entries has been the one about gay lisp.The theme is no small matter, No monkey business. It’s serious business.
A CRISP DEFINITION OF LISP: a stereotypical speech attribute associated with gay males in English-speaking countries.
This is something not to be taken lightly. There have been studies: LINVILLE (1998) and MUNSON et al (2006) and Professors Henry Rogers and Ron Smyth at the University of Toronto investigated this.
Scientific conclusions.
- ONLY GAY MEN HAVE IT
- HOW TO DEFINE GAY LISP
There are a few features to stereotypical gay speech.
- One is pitch. All things being equal, the higher a voice, the more effeminate a voice sounds, for the obvious reasons.
- The second is pitch variability. The more up and down a voice goes in conversation, the more likely it is to be perceived as "excitable", feminine and gay in men.
- DO THEY SPEAK LIKE WOMEN?
- DOES IT COME NATURAL, OR IS ACQUIRED?
Hard to say
- DOES ONLY HAPPEN IN ENGLISH? OR IN OTHER LANGUAGES TOO?
It happens in other languages, although I don't know if happens in languages such as the swahili or vietnamese.
- DOES IT SIGNAL OTHER MEN THAT THEY ARE GAY?
Since it's a speech pattern, and not some other marker, like clothing, you can also mostly 'turn it off' at will, if meeting someone you do not wish to reveal your orientation to.
- THE GAY ACCENT MAY ALSO JUST BE A RESULT OF LIVING IN PROXIMITY TO OTHER GAY PEOPLE with the same accent - a way of identifying with a community.
- DO GAY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHY THEY HAVE THE LISP? No they don’t. “I don’t understand it either. I’m not trying higher pitch or anything. It’s just like… the way it is”.
- OFTEN, THE 'SHANE' ACCENT IS USED AS AN IDENTIFIER FOR SUBMISSIVE homosexuals, in contrast to the characteristics of the dominant, or 'butch' homosexuals. -Victor Fieri, August 26, 2005.
