it’s a mix of culture, confidence, and just bein around ppl who talk like that. it’s like a vibe they pick up when they’re just expressin themselves more freely.
As far as I read and know, they have normal voices just like anybody else but they pronounce the effeminate raspy sound as a way of finding if somebody would be DTF or not
For reference, lesbian women have a similar accent, it’s just less noticeable because men are looked down upon for being feminine. A lot of queer culture originated from black gay/trans women, and since we idolize those people, our speech/slang all comes from them. That’s probably why it sounds “feminine” too. As humans, the things we say are just a jumble of words from every person we’ve ever loved.
Some people say that accent is always present, kids get bullied for it after all, but I think in those cases it comes from a strong connection with either your mom, or any women with a powerful presence in your life. And when surrounded by strong women, when/if that queerness eventually comes out, those queer kids have a platform to be themselves and come out too. And after coming out, those speech patterns that were “so shameful” become normal and more amplified.
My theory is that they grew up in the company of women, and it’s not only gay men, there are straight men who are like that too, I knew a guy like that, talked like he was gay but had a girlfriend who cheated on with a different woman, so he’s most likely straight, an asshole but a straight one
While many theories here have been shown to have some truth to them, this question is an open topic of research, and it has not been answered conclusively.
Leading scholars in this topic include Dr Ben Munson at U Minnesota and Dr Robin Lakoff at Berkeley.
Strsight men also have a distinctive speech pattern. They learn it from other staight men by being teased or bullied if they don’t sound “straight” enough.
So how do you sound not-straight? Talk the way that got you teased.
Gay men talk in that voice to signal that they are deopping the straight requirements from their voice so as not to be confused as straight.
I was wondering this same thing. Its interesting, I fly alot for work and go to alot of different countries and have picked the same tone and speech pattern with some gay folk while they are speaking a different language to me.
So I can’t speak on most gay men but I can speak about my own personal experience as a gay man. I grew up in the Midwestern United States. The area that I lived in wasn’t necessarily homophobic but it wasn’t accepting either. There were a few gay couples in the area but we definitely didn’t have events like gay pride and the few hang outs that were available for LGBT people weren’t available to LGBT youth (bars, dance halls, etc). So while there were LGBT people in the community I wasn’t really exposed to them in my formative years.
What I was exposed to was LGBT characters on television. I watched shows like Will & Grace, Queen as Folk, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to try to determine how I was supposed to act as a gay man. These shows tended to focus on effeminate gay men who had very specific speech patterns. Whenever I wanted to make it clear that I was gay without necessarily saying I was gay I found myself using these speech patterns.
Eventually I became comfortable with my sexuality and the need to make it known that I was gay subsided. However… the speech patterns kind of became a habit by that time. I don’t really consider myself to be flamboyant or feminine but even today I catch myself falling into those patterns without thinking about it.
So essentially I guess what I’m trying to say is that the “gay accent” is the result of gay men trying to fit themselves into a box that society has created for us …
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This isn’t a slam at all, it’s not regional, so just curious how some men end up with it?
its a cultural thing. Lots of cultures have accents to signify certain things.
it’s a mix of culture, confidence, and just bein around ppl who talk like that. it’s like a vibe they pick up when they’re just expressin themselves more freely.
This is a 90s movie trope, its not real. Do you know any gay people? They speak normally.
It depends on who they hang out with. A lot of gay men you couldn’t discern from a straight guy.
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Likely comes from being around others who talk that way, also to single to other homosexuals that they’re in the same group.
Also I saw your feet pics and I think they’re so hot 🥵
Watch the 2014 documentary “Do I Sound Gay?” for an in-depth answer.
Any time a group starts hanging out together, they will form dialects.
It’s a blaccent a lot of the time and it comes from black woman.
As far as I read and know, they have normal voices just like anybody else but they pronounce the effeminate raspy sound as a way of finding if somebody would be DTF or not
For reference, lesbian women have a similar accent, it’s just less noticeable because men are looked down upon for being feminine. A lot of queer culture originated from black gay/trans women, and since we idolize those people, our speech/slang all comes from them. That’s probably why it sounds “feminine” too. As humans, the things we say are just a jumble of words from every person we’ve ever loved.
Some people say that accent is always present, kids get bullied for it after all, but I think in those cases it comes from a strong connection with either your mom, or any women with a powerful presence in your life. And when surrounded by strong women, when/if that queerness eventually comes out, those queer kids have a platform to be themselves and come out too. And after coming out, those speech patterns that were “so shameful” become normal and more amplified.
And also, it’s cvnt mama okurr hunty
In my mind I am Paris Hilton in my physicality I am Luigi
My theory is that they grew up in the company of women, and it’s not only gay men, there are straight men who are like that too, I knew a guy like that, talked like he was gay but had a girlfriend who cheated on with a different woman, so he’s most likely straight, an asshole but a straight one
I asked my brother this and he had literally no idea, he just adapted it over time.
Honestly, we don’t exactly know.
While many theories here have been shown to have some truth to them, this question is an open topic of research, and it has not been answered conclusively.
Leading scholars in this topic include Dr Ben Munson at U Minnesota and Dr Robin Lakoff at Berkeley.
Strsight men also have a distinctive speech pattern. They learn it from other staight men by being teased or bullied if they don’t sound “straight” enough.
So how do you sound not-straight? Talk the way that got you teased.
Gay men talk in that voice to signal that they are deopping the straight requirements from their voice so as not to be confused as straight.
All gay people can code switch between the two
I was wondering this same thing. Its interesting, I fly alot for work and go to alot of different countries and have picked the same tone and speech pattern with some gay folk while they are speaking a different language to me.
My guess would be social media.
So I can’t speak on most gay men but I can speak about my own personal experience as a gay man. I grew up in the Midwestern United States. The area that I lived in wasn’t necessarily homophobic but it wasn’t accepting either. There were a few gay couples in the area but we definitely didn’t have events like gay pride and the few hang outs that were available for LGBT people weren’t available to LGBT youth (bars, dance halls, etc). So while there were LGBT people in the community I wasn’t really exposed to them in my formative years.
What I was exposed to was LGBT characters on television. I watched shows like Will & Grace, Queen as Folk, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to try to determine how I was supposed to act as a gay man. These shows tended to focus on effeminate gay men who had very specific speech patterns. Whenever I wanted to make it clear that I was gay without necessarily saying I was gay I found myself using these speech patterns.
Eventually I became comfortable with my sexuality and the need to make it known that I was gay subsided. However… the speech patterns kind of became a habit by that time. I don’t really consider myself to be flamboyant or feminine but even today I catch myself falling into those patterns without thinking about it.
So essentially I guess what I’m trying to say is that the “gay accent” is the result of gay men trying to fit themselves into a box that society has created for us …
this feels vaguely accidentally homophobic