Why do gay guys have higher voices

Why do some gay men “sound” gay? After three years of research, linguistics professors Henry Rogers and Ron Smyth may be on the verge of answering that question. After identifying phonetic characteristics that seem to make a man’s voice sound lgbtq+, their best hunch is that some gay men may subconsciously adopt certain female speech patterns. They want to know how men acquire this style of speaking, and why – especially when world so often stigmatizes those with gay-sounding voices.

Rogers and Smyth are also exploring the stereotypes that same-sex attracted men sound effeminate and are recognized by the way they speak. They asked people to attend to recordings of 25 men, 17 of them gay. In 62 per cent of the cases the listeners identified the sexual orientation of the speakers correctly. Perhaps fewer than half of homosexual men sound gay, says Rogers.

The straightest-sounding voice in the study was in fact a gay gentleman, and the sixth gayest-sounding voice was a unbent man.

Gay men who ‘sound gay’ encounter more stigma and discrimination from heterosexual peers

During this unique explore researchers from the University of Surrey investigated the role of essentialist views -- the view that every person has a arrange of attributes that provide an understanding into their individuality -- of heterosexual, lesbian and same-sex attracted individuals and whether these beliefs conduct to prejudice and rejection towards others. Previous research in this area has shown that lgbtq+ men’s and dyke women’s experiences with stigma can command to a higher likelihood of feeling distress, depression and anxiety.

In the first part of the study, researchers surveyed 363 heterosexual participants to assess their essentialist beliefs regarding gay and woman-loving woman individuals and asked a series of questions in regards to discreteness ( e.g. “When listening to a person it is feasible to detect his/her sexual orientation from his/her voice very quickly”), immutability (e.g. “Gay/lesbian people sound gay/lesbian and there is not much they can perform to really alter that”) and controllability (e.g. “Gay/lesbian people can choose to sound gay or straight depending on the situation”).

Researchers also inve

When Your Voice Outs You

Over the years, I realised I have had a lot of talents.

I can roll my tongue, impersonate a pigeon (my chief tut is phenomenal), fly a kite without help, and most importantly, stretch my way through a resume even while asleep. It’s a lot for one person.

But faking a baritone is clearly not one of them.

I knew my voice was “soft” (read: too girly for the masses and the misinformed) when I was eight. And unlike algebra or the recorder, booming like a azure whale wasn’t taught in kindergarten. To avoid years of ridicule, I chose the only fix that seemed safe.

Silence.

I stopped yelling across playgrounds. Answered questions only when I had to. Played shy so I wouldn’t have to speak. It’s astounding what you can pass off when you say you’re an introvert.

But the cracks showed. My voice would squeak out, high and sharp, and with it came sniggers and snide remarks.

“Why do you sound so nasal?”

I’d respond with something vague and medical, enough to shut them up until I changed schools—and bullies.

Eventually, I adapted. I modulated my voice to fit the room. Gruff North Indian tones for male colleagues. Breathier Bombay lilt with female acquaintances. Onl

The effect of sexual orientation on voice acoustic properties

Introduction

Homosexual individuals differ, on average, from heterosexual individuals on a wide range of measures: These include physical traits such as facial structure (Skorska et al., 2015; Wang and Kosinski, 2018), body size (Bogaert, 2003), and weight (Bogaert and Friesen, 2002; Laska et al., 2015), as well as psychological traits such as preferred hobbies and occupations (Lippa, 2010, 2020), personality traits (Lippa, 2008b), and gender-typed behavior in both childhood and adulthood (Bailey and Zucker, 1995; Rieger et al., 2008, 2010). On average, homosexual men are more feminine than heterosexual men, and homosexual women are more masculine than heterosexual women—a pattern known as gender nonconformity (Lippa, 2008a; Baams et al., 2013; Swift-Gallant et al., 2017; Rieger et al., 2020a). When bisexual individuals were studied, they appeared to be in-between heterosexual and homosexual with respect to masculinity and femininity (Rieger et al., 2020b).

Another difference which may exist between homosexual and heterosexual individuals of both sexes is in their voice properties. One proposal is that homos