Deconstructing Queer Speech: The Features and Nature of “Gay-Sounding Speech”

Abstract

One of the fundamental observations of sociolinguistics is that separate social classes and groups form individual speech patterns. Taking this fact into account for queer communities, this article explores the features of speech associated with a so-called “gay-sounding speech”, specifically in the realm of phonetics and acoustics, and the place of this speech in relation to the wider 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Through a survey of the research literature, it considers different kinds of acoustic variation to investigate the widespread idea that “gay-sounding speech” is characterized by a feminization of speech, a view deemed controversial. The article provides evidence both for and against this claim.