Researching Gay Speech Patterns at the U of I
for the class Eng 401, Professor Vieira
written by Jacalyn Rauch, 3 May 2011
Abstract
This research project seeks to answer the following major questions: are there homosexual
linguistic patterns typical to gay men, at least on the University of Illinois campus? What
constitutes those speech patterns as identifiably gay? Where do these speech patterns come
from, and why do they exist? And, most importantly, what do gay men have to say about it?
After conducting my interviews and observations, as well as delving into some secondary
sources, I came to several conclusions concerning the afore-mentioned research questions:
1) There are identifiable gay speech patterns
2) These qualities of speech are not dependent on gender distinctions, but exist along a
spectrum that includes both masculine and feminine qualities (and which all men and
women, gay or straight, take part in on some level)
3) Though sometimes exaggerated in stereotypical portrayals, the very exaggeration of gay
speech can exist as a symbol of gay power in society, and as a means for gay men to
establish their presence within a community and their right to a cultural voice
4) Nothing is truly concrete outside the realm of individual experience
Throughout the research process I feel that my understanding of the gay culture and community
on this campus has deepened considerably, as well as my respect for those individuals who
consider themselves a part of it. Despite the conclusions I’ve drawn, I’ve also come to realize
that the ability to describe gay speech patterns is far less important than the ability to engage
thoughtfully with perspectives different from mine, and to expand my own understanding of
what life is like on this campus for different individuals within different communities.
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Research Methods
In order to complete my research I followed several steps involving both primary and secondary
sources. Besides researching secondary sources (including online journal articles, other research
projects in the IDEAL archives, and texts read in English 401), I also observed at different
venues within the gay community on campus (mostly social bar events, including the popularly
termed “Thursgay” at Murphy’s, as well as an LGBT-funded date auction at Clybourne’s). None
of these sources or observations, however, provided me with the information I could only
discover by talking with gay individuals themselves. Therefore my most insightful findings (and
those I focus on in this paper) arose from the interviews I conducted with three different gay
men, all Illini students with unique experiences and insights to share on the topic of gay speech.
Here follows a brief introduction to these three individuals, but I reserve a deeper
analysis of their interviews for later in the paper; for it was only after reviewing the three
interviews in relation to one another that the most rewarding aspects of my research began.
Tony
My first interviewee, Tony, is a senior in Advertising and Business Administration, with a minor
in English, and an impressive resume of extracurricular activities besides (including being
President of the Chancellor Scholar Honor Student Council, Director of Marketing for the Illini
Union Board, and on Homecoming Court). He carries himself with poise and confidence, yet
with a self-awareness that belays a slight lack of confidence – not in his intelligence, to be sure,
but perhaps in self-perception. As we sit together at a small table in the corner of the Barnes and
Noble café, he waits for me to begin the interview with a hardly noticeable tension, a
nervousness, permeating his demeanor. Since we’ve been friends for a long time, I know the
cause of his hidden apprehension is not my presence, but the topic we are about to discuss.
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Tony is a man who wishes to be seen by others not through the lens of sexual orientation,
but by other self-defining attributes – his accomplishments, his personality, his opinions. To
Tony, being gay is not one of the most important aspects of his identity, and though he harbors
no ill feeling toward other, more “out and proud” individuals, he seems to long for a society
where gay men are perceived and accepted as “normal,” without the assumptions of gay
attributes perpetuated by stereotypes (in media AND reality). That being said, he does not deny
the existence of certain attributes that lead to those stereotypes (such as those associated with gay
speech patterns), and soon engages in our discussion with fast-growing ease and enthusiasm, as
the interview progresses and the conversation unfolds into ever more depth and intrigue.
Brian
Shortly after my first interview, I arranged a meeting at Panera with Brian. A year younger than
Tony and majoring in Biology, Brian provides me with slightly different perspectives on gay
speech patterns and their relationship to self-identity. Because I had met Brian before at several
social events (and usually those associated with the gay community), I have to admit that I
thought of him as having a more stereotypically “gay” personality. After talking with him for
only a few moments however, it becomes clear that I had made my own mistake in making that
assumption: not only does he consider his own speech as less stereotypical than other gay men
on campus, he also confides that though he has been out among the gay community during his
time on campus, he only officially came out to his friends and family at home within the last
month. Despite this news (surprising to me), he carries himself comfortably and shares his
insights with me with unabashed candor.
Though Brian considers himself a less “stereotypical” speaker than other gay men he
knows on campus, he admits that those qualities attributed to the gay persona do emerge when he
is either a) particularly excited or b) with other gay men. As we continue our discussion it is
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clear that he is confident in himself and his personality, and that he seems to waste no time
worrying about other people’s perceptions of him, whether he behaves more flamboyantly or not
– in his eyes, true friends do not judge him either way. He views the most flamboyant speech
patterns as a symbol of belonging to the gay community rather than any inherency of being gay;
this particular insight led us into a great area of discussion, one which I will expound upon later.
Chris
My last (and by no means least) interviewee proves to be a particularly rich mine of information,
sharing various personal anecdotes, observations, and experiences with hardly any words of
encouragement or inquiry from me. This man, Chris Gibson (who cheerfully insists I use his real
name for the project), is a senior in Kinesiology, and an avid supporter of Gay Pride. Definitely
the most vocal (if not also the most confident) of all the men I’ve interviewed, he has plenty to
say, and no qualms about saying it.
Settling into the couches at his apartment late one weekday evening, I realize that I’ve
never seen Chris so decontextualized – at home instead of a party or a bar, hair un-styled, clothes
nondescript, and glasses instead of contacts. Despite the difference in appearance, his demeanor
and personality remain ever effervescent – engaging, self-assured, and only sometimes slightly
over-the-top. Perhaps the biggest distinction to be made from the other two interviewees is that
Chris has counted himself an open member of the gay community since he was seventeen years
old and a junior in high school, unlike Tony or Brian, who only recently came out during their
college careers. Though I do not say this is the only reason, this difference surely seems to play
out in the unique personalities of my interviewees: Tony, determined not to be identified by his
orientation and therefore uncomfortable in identifying too closely with the more colorful gay
persona; Brian, not as bothered by other people’s perceptions about himself, but still less inclined
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to be “out and proud;” and finally, Chris, who embraces gay culture the most wholeheartedly,
and therefore incorporates it into his identity the most.
All of these individuals acknowledge some sort of “gay quality” within their own speech
patterns, despite obvious variances, and all of them have intelligent and well-formed opinions
concerning gay speech patterns on the whole. Together the interviews with these three
individuals led me to divide my research into a few major themes: gay speech patterns in
relation to 1) gender, 2) media and culture, and 3) individual experience. Though each
interviewee has different perspectives and insights according to their different experiences, they
all hit on these themes somehow or another in their interviews. And what I had originally
thought was dissension among my interviewed subjects was soon revealed, after careful review
and critical analysis, as a surprising harmony of perception.
First – What is “it”?1
Before moving on to the major themes discovered throughout my interviews, let me give a brief
description of all three men’s various attempts to describe those qualities that make gay speech
identifiable. All men mentioned gay speakers as having marked differences in tone and pitch, as
well as heightened degrees of expression. Brian also mentioned the usage of certain “buzz”
words (like “fabulous”), and Chris gleefully detailed me on some exclusive gay vocabulary
(slang terms only used in gay company, such as “wolf,” “bear,” etc.). Besides this specific word
usage, the most typical vocal attributes that lead to the identification of homosexuality seem to
be the variation in pitch and expression: Chris says, “Overall I think the expressiveness is very
prevalent, talking more and with more energy… It’s the exact opposite of monotone… Melodic.”
according to Don Kulick’s critical analysis in “Gay and Lesbian Language,” there is a
dimension of linguistic interaction that identifies sexuality to some extent, but there is no
inherent “gay language” scholars should be focusing on in their linguistic research.
1
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With these descriptions in mind, let us move on to the weightier themes concerning gay speech.
Hey Girlfriend:
Homosexuality and the Binary Gender
Construction2
One of the first observations that got me really interested in this research topic was of a
conversation at the LGBT date auction. One gay man, overhearing my conversation with a
friend on the topic of this class project, interjected a comment to the following effect: “For a
long time I tried to speak more manly, but I couldn’t.” At the time I hadn’t even mentioned
factors of masculinity and femininity as affecting the distinction of typical gay speech (though I
won’t deny it had certainly crossed my mind) – so what is it about gender that gets so mixed up
in perceptions of gay speech? According to Johnsen’s research, much of the spoken interaction
between gay men is a “negotiation of gender inversion” – that is, gay speech patterns reflect
socially constructed identities that are related to conventional categories of gender (for example,
gay men calling each other “girlfriend” or, as Chris mentions, “bitch”).3 Yet does this sort of
gender inversion extend beyond vocabulary to qualities in speech such as tone, pitch, and
expressiveness? What does it mean to speak more “manly” versus more femininely?
Tony is the first to jump to the defensive in the realm of gender in gay stereotypes. His
attempt to describe what makes gay speech distinctive is immediately a negative description:
“More than anything else, without giving it a gender distinction, there’s just more of a variation
tonally, and I would say that the ending cadence on a sentence is probably different.” Later on
he delves further into the subject of femininity, describing his own attempts to combat that
particular stereotype: “After I came out I actually felt more of a drive to be seen as ‘one of the
according to Judith Butler’s “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution,” binary gender is a
social construction that individuals adhere to through cultural performance.
3
see Ole Ringdal Johnsen’s “He’s a Big Old Girl! Negotiation of Gender Inversion in Gay
Men’s Speech”
2
6
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guys,’ to be just as competitive and… (to show) that being gay wasn’t a handicap as far as the
kind of masculine guy role sort of thing….” Brian approaches the subject of gender somewhat
less defensively, but with a basically similar view on the matter, saying, “I wouldn’t say it (the
identifying quality of gay speech) is femininity because I don’t feel that a lot of the people who
use it – not ironically, but seriously use it – I don’t feel like they’re trying to say that they’re any
less masculine than they are.” Tony echoes this thought with the comment, “I have always felt
very comfortable as part of the gender binary and I don’t really see my orientation as reflecting
anything other than just that.” Similarly, Chris declares, “As for gay guys referring to each other
as girlfriend and stuff like that, I don’t care – I don’t want them to actually think that or use it all
the time, ‘cause I still consider myself a guy.”
Furthermore, one of Chris’s first attempts to define distinctive gay speech patterns is, like
Tony’s, a negative description: “Overall I think the expressiveness is very prevalent, talking
more and with more energy, but the voice that sounds like a girl is completely over the top.” But
later on he amends this statement slightly, saying, “Most straight guys talk in a lower voice than
I do, and I sometimes wonder if that’s their natural pitch… it kind of annoys me. It’s also an
easy way to blend in. That’s also what I was referring to when I said energy and emotion – I
think those are more feminine qualities in terms of speaking, and actually displaying that.” Here
we start to stray off the beaten path of our society’s clear-cut notions of distinction within the
binary gender construction. That is to say, here is an alternative to the idea of gay speech
qualities floating somewhere between the realms of masculine and feminine: what if all
individuals – male, female, gay, straight – exist along a spectrum of qualities that are inherently
neither masculine nor feminine, but something else? This way gay men and women (and even
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straight men) may often share similar qualities in speech (expressiveness, energy, higher pitch)
not bound by orientation or sex, but by individual personality or adherence to cultural staples.
Though the idea of cultural performativity is certainly not new, it does give us a fresh
lens to move forward in this research project, particularly as we shift our focus to perceptions of
gay speech patterns in the media and cultural communities.
Jacks and Wills:
Peacocking and Perceptions of Homosexuality
At one point in his interview Chris says, “I think there’s a lot more Wills than there are Jacks. I
think the Jacks are louder and more in your face and that they’re easier to spot, but they’re not
more in number.” If you are not familiar with the show “Will and Grace,” let me give a brief
explanation to illustrate the point: two of its main characters are gay men, Will and Jack. Will is
a lawyer, a much more serious and sensible character than Jack, who is an actor, and probably
one of the most flagrant examples of flamboyant behavior to ever come across the airwaves. In
light of this knowledge, we can now see Chris’s comment as a powerful description of the reality
of gay culture in relation its portrayal in the media. The media’s portrayal of stereotypical gay
men can find its match in reality, but the number of gay men who are at that far end of the
spectrum is quite less than many people realize. Chris continues with a personal example, “My
class for RST 199 thought I was straight for half the semester before I said that I met a gay porn
star on Unofficial (laughs) – that was what it took for them to realize… It’s easier to pick up on
when you know, and straight people are looking for something a lot more obvious.”
Just because the portrayal of gay men in the media may ring true for certain gay
individuals in reality does not mean the overly-done stereotype does not have its negative
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effects.4 Tony says, “I’m not saying that people who are flamboyant and overly obvious, that
they shouldn’t be that way, that it’s not alright for them to express themselves like that. I just
think that when it becomes a stock character and that personality is essentially being mined for
entertainment value, that’s when it becomes uncomfortable for me.” Brian also brings up the
point of personal identity formation: “I think there are some people who feel that they need to fit
the stereotype then they change who they are to reach some kind of – I don’t want to say ideal –
but reach some kind of personal note that’s been portrayed to them.”5 So now the question
becomes one of origin – what came first, the chicken or the egg? Does the media create a
stereotype which then trickles into society, or does the stereotype stem from real examples of
certain gay individuals who act that way naturally?
Perhaps another of Chris’s insights can illuminate the issue further. He calls his theory
peacocking, “where a bunch of gay guys are together, or if they’re out and they’re comfortable,
they’ll almost act and sound more gay than they actually are just so everyone knows… I think
the personality gets accentuated when more gay people get together – it becomes even more
prevalent.” Looking at it this way, we can make connections between gay speech patterns and
other linguistic patterns identifiable to unique cultural groups. Brian says, “I think it’s more of a
slang thing, really – I don’t want to elude to the inappropriate, but other races have their own
slang, and it’s kind of a way you can feel a little bit more communal between groups of people.”
Similarly, Chris states, “I would look at Ebonics the same way, which is that it used to be kind of
a social group, you knew you were in the ‘in-crowd’ because you all spoke the same way.” In
reference to Rosina Lippi-Green’s article “The standard language myth,” I hesitantly compare
for information on gay discrimination, see Nick Gooler’s “The current and potential targeting
of LGBT people in sexual violence prevention education in and around UIUC”
5
for more information on gay identity formation, see Marcus Lane’s “Conflicting Identities: Life
of LGBT Students at UIUC”
4
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gay speech patterns to those linguistic patterns usually defined as creating an accent: “People in
power are perceived as speaking normal, unaccented English. Any speech that is different from
that constructed norm is called an accent.”6 Other linguistic terms (such as slang or dialect) may
also be referenced in an effort to qualify gay speech patterns, but the most important thing to
note in using any of these terms is the factor and effect of cultural community. Whether or not
identifiable gay speech patterns arise because of natural or nurturing effects, they are significant
not as a method of stereotype or discrimination, but as a force of unity and power within a
historically disempowered social group.
The interesting thing is, all three men agree that the proliferation of the over-the-top gay
stereotype is declining as society becomes more accepting. Tony says, “I think once people get
tired of… the super saturation of ‘gay,’ like all the worst stereotypes – once people get tired of
that, and I think they will get tired of that, they’re just gonna want to see… just normal people.”
Still, the remnants of that stereotype seem to be a source of pride for those who identify with it –
Brian states, “I feel like the stereotype is kind of held up – even if nobody acted like it, I still
think it’s gonna stay around permanently as a symbol… You can say something a billion
different ways but the way you decide to say it definitely reflects who you are.” Like anything
culturally or socially relevant, Brian’s thought-provoking declaration reminds us that within
every stereotype and identifiable pattern, there is an individual living his own unique experience,
and forming his own unique perceptions of the world around him.
Freak on a Pedestal:
Homosexuality and the Individual
Experience
Perhaps this final theme is needless to expound upon, seeing as I’ve already described to you the
various ways my three interview subjects differ in backgrounds and experiences. Beyond these
6
Matsuda qtd Lippi-Green 59
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three gay men, however, I feel it is important to note that my observations and inquiries into this
research subject are far from conclusive or all encompassing for the entirety of the gay
community (not only on the Illinois campus, but beyond it as well). Some gay individuals speak
more flamboyantly than any of the men I interviewed, and some may speak with no qualities
distinctive of their orientation whatsoever. Regardless of this fact, identifiable patterns of gay
speech certainly do exist within the majority of the gay community on campus, and different
individuals experience, interact, and react to those patterns in individual ways. Gay speech
patterns, therefore, exist less as an inherent method of labeling certain men as gay, but as a
cultural phenomenon that every gay man may choose to identify with as little or as much as he
wishes. So regardless of where an individual places himself on the spectrum of speech patterns
ranging from low-key to extremely flamboyant, it is important to remember that we all deserve
to have our say, in whatever voice we choose to say it with. Even the most flagrant of
stereotypes can be born out as a powerful symbol for many who know they needn’t play any part
in the extremes of gay culture, but still respect those who do, because, in Brian’s inspiring words,
“this is what you celebrate because it’s somebody who’s different – and regardless of where you
fall on this spectrum we’re talking about, this is the person on the far end of the spectrum, this is
the person who is different, the freak, you hold him up on the pedestal because he’s different.”
Whether or not you believe homosexuality is biological or social, or whether gay speech
patterns are less present in reality than they are according to broad social perceptions, or whether
all gay men adhere on some level to certain behavioral and vocal attributes, it is important to
remember the quality and power of the individual experience. It is important to respect the
individual, and his right to speak in whatever way he chooses.
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References
Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed.
Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 900-911.
Gooler, Nick. “The current and potential targeting of LGBT people in sexual violence prevention
education in and around UIUC.” EUI project from the IDEALS archive (2009):
<http://hdl.handle.net/2142/13135>.
Johnsen, Ole Ringdal. Journal of Homosexuality 54 (2008): 150-168.
Kulick, Don. Annual Review of Anthropology 29 (2000): 243-286.
Lane, Marcus. “Conflicting Identities: Life of LGBT Students at UIUC.” EUI project from the
IDEALS archive (2009): <http://hdl.handle.net/2142/13113>.
Lippi-Green, Rosina. English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the
U.S. London: Routledge, 1997. 53-62.
Acknowledgements
A special and sincere thank you to my three interviewees – my research project would not have
been nearly as rich and rewarding without your willing and thoughtful cooperation.