Womens Language
White Chicks Trailer
Play videothis is just the trailer, the real artifact is the movie as a whole. Two black men put on whiteface to impersonate rich white women to solve a case for the FBI. The only thing keeping their characters intact is their use of language, which sometimes returns to AAE for comedic contrast. WARNING the movie features some casual homophobia and transphobia.
vocal fry (and uptalk)
Play videoThe second part of the video has a detailed breakdown of vocal fry and uptalk, including how to change from modal voice to creaky voice, the stigmas associated with the two styles, and the linguistic function of creaky voice in other languages (Danish, Burmese, etc).
Regional Accents debate on the BBC
Play videoIn a BBC news interview two white women talk about "polishing" or "smoothing" accents in order to be taken more seriously (particularly in work/business situations). I find the opinions of both these women problematic especially the idea that "accents should fit in with the people you are with" which immediately brings up issues of class and "prestige" not to mention the fact that opportunities to change ones accent are not available to everyone and instead perpetuates this idea of an accent-based hierarchy of what counts as "proper" English.
Melissa Lozada-Oliva - "Like Totally Whatever" (NPS 2015)
Play videoA response to the video where the white man had a stick in his butt about how younger people speak.
Vocal Fry
Play videoThis video over emphasizes the difference of women with and without vocal fry. Vocal fry is becoming more and more common in young women, this small clip just explains the difference of vocal fry.
Learning Language Out of Comfort Level
Play videoThis is a clip from an Indian movie 'English Vinglish'. The protagonist, a small snack entrepreneur, secretly enrolls in an English speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills. She goes out of her comfort level and tries to learn new language. This clip shows her newly gained self-confidence and self-respect when she gives a speech in English during a relative's wedding.
Deborah Tannen: Gender-specific language rituals
Play videoThis is video talk about gender specific language rituals. There are huge differences speaking ways between boys and girls. In this video, Deborah Tannen gives some interesting examples about boy's conversation and girl's conversation. It is very interesting to find the difference.
Masculinity and Femininity in Disney's Mulan
Play videoThe song “I’ll Make A Man Out of You” from the 1998 classic Mulan shows gender stereotypes and battling them. Mulan is a Disney classic that confronts battling feminine stereotypes head on and throughout the movie the protagonist Mulan shows that she can do anything a man can do. In this song specifically, the gender stereotypes of being a man in the war and what a man should be able to do and be is explained to a very catchy rhythm. Along with this throughout the song, Mulan shows how she is strong and she can fight just the same as them, but because of the laws, she must do this all while dressed as a man to blend in.
Vocal fry
Play videoA CDC News broadcaster explores the use of vocal fry (a.k.a. creaky voice) among women and considers the debate surrounding this speech quality's stigmatization. (Also note some of the comments below the video that highlight this topic of conversation as somewhat polarizing/ controversial.)
Talking While Female
Play videoThis video shows how there are different ideologies according to women's voices. There is the not-so popular vocal fry, which in this video, says is considered less trustworthy. There are also other examples, like; the uptalk, the high voice, the low voice, etc. It is unbelievable that women have to consider changing their voices, so they don't fall into the ideology of their original voice.
R.S.V.P. - Clueless (1/9) Movie CLIP (1995) HD
Play videoSome examples of the third dialect in the 1995 movie Clueless.
Chrish - Indie girl introduces us to her kitchen (Vine)
Play videoThis vine parodies a female indie pop singer's voice.
Incredible! Woman Tacks ‘If That Makes Sense’ Onto Phrases That Definitely Make Sense
This is a satirical article that references women's tendency to use certain features commonly cited in Lakoff's "Women's Language".
Lake Bell Calls Girls Out On "Sexy Baby Vocal Virus"
Play videoThis video clip shows Lake Bell on Conan O’Brien’s talk show. While discussing her upcoming movie, Bell goes into discussion about her annoyance with what she calls “sexy baby vocal virus” and vocal fry. Lake demonstrates what she means by each of these, as well as explains what they are. Both pitch and vocal fry are the main features of these vocal habits. Bell also makes a gender specific claim, that it is women who fall into this habit of speech. Also, during the clip, while talking about her new movie about voice overs, both Bell and O’Brien style-shift between voices and different ways of speaking, representing performativity.
Vin Diesel Vocal Fry
Play videoVocal fry is popular with female celebrities. It's assumption toward young women that this linguistic form of speaking is incorrect; this raspy, low tone represents weakness. But why is it more acceptable for a male to use a form of vocal fry? Vin Diesel is a prime example. His character is strong, smart and courageous.
The Science behind Vocal Fry
Play videoThis video provides a more practical look at the idea of Vocal Fry, which has recently become such an analyzed concept across the globe. In the video, the youtube channel known as "BrainStuff" attempts to explain what Vocal Fry is and what happens when it is performed.
Difference Between Men and Women
Play videoA short clip from the TV show, “Friends” posted in June of 2017. The video explains the generalizations society has for the way men and women speak. The women in the video tend to over exaggerate the situation, in which they grab glasses and a bottle of wine to discuss the kiss. Whereas, the men in the latter part of the video are eating pizza casually talking about the kiss in a matter of five seconds with a few words each. The actions in the video describe the generalizations society gives men and women’s communication styles.
9 Non-Threatening Leadership Strategies For Women
I found this while scrolling along my Facebook feed. I believe the comics do a good job of describing the absurdity women have to deal with in order to be seen as a valid worker in the workplace, and they way in which their language reflects upon that identity.
Last F**able Day
Play videoThis is a link from Amy Schumer's Comedy Central show called "Inside Amy Schumer" including the guest appearances of well known actresses Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In this Comedy Sketch they are holding a party to celebrate Julia's so called "Last Fuckable Day." When Amy asks what a Last Fuckable Day is the women proceed to tell her since they are all women age 45 and above that they have reached a point where they are no longer portrayed in the media as "fuckable" and this was worth celebrating because they no longer had to worry about acting sexy, looking sexy or preforming their feminine gender stereotypes. You will see examples when you watch the clip of how they are straying from their roles as women in today's society and of coarse with this being a comedy sketch everything is exaggerated and dramatized. This clip relates to what we have talked about in class and read in our "Living Language" book discussing preforming a certain role through language use. From the clip the use of language relating to their gender roles as older women is mentioned when they discuss the titles of the movies they will be cast in from now on as older women and what type of characters in movies they will be limited to because of their age and gender.
Faith Salie Vocal fry
Play videoFaith Salie in this video reflects on her experiences as a Rhodes scholar and comedian. Salie talks about societal perceptions of a dichotomy between intelligence and comedic ability. The misconception of vocal fry being an indication of lower intelligence falls apart amidst her clear academic success.
Alice Walker: Fear of Being Feminine
Play videoAlice Walker is an American novelist, poet, and civil and women’s rights activist. She is best known for her critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple. In this video, she talks about the negative repercussions of referring to women as ‘guys’. The type of situation she is referencing are when someone, say a server at a restaurant, walks up to a group of women and addresses them by saying “Hi guys, how are you doing today?” Men and women both do this in America and it only perpetuates the fear of being feminine, or a female in general. With so many women still fighting for equal rights, it is crucial to be proud of being a woman and for women to not label themselves or other women as ‘guys’. This way of speaking stems from the fact that the English language is a “masculine default” language. This means that masculinity, along with masculine terms, are the default in English and other feminine terms have been unnecessarily created in order to differentiate between a male and female performing the same role. A good example of this sociolinguistic model is actor vs. actress and waiter vs. waitress. The original words are changed when talking about a woman when really, the word itself is just supposed to describe the job someone is doing. Although feminine words are added, many people still use the masculine terms by default, creating an alienation and feeling of unimportance or lack of superiority for women. Unfortunately, the aforementioned linguistic features, along with calling a group of women “guys”, are innate in most people’s vocabulary and using them can be a very difficult habit to break. Walker suggests women coming together to change the way that they label themselves and other women in order to first separate women from men and then empower those women. Although it may seem like a small step on the way to equality, it is an extremely vital one.
Why Do Girls Have Creaky Voices?
Play videoThis sociolinguistic artifact covers the topic of "Vocal Fry" or the new way young women talk in which the tone and sound of their voice sounds creaky. People don't exactly enjoy hearing someone talk using vocal fry, and studies have proved that girls who interviewed for a job and spoke using vocal fry were deemed more untrustworthy than those who didn't, and were viewed more negatively than men who used vocal fry, which relates to gender differences in spoken language and language use. What is particularly interesting is why vocal fry is so common among young women. This artifact suggests that linguists think that women tend to be the "vocal trailblazers" because they are more sensitive and receptive of social interactions and more likely able to pick up on settle vocal cues such as a "fry", again accounting for the gender differences in spoken language and language use. Also, there is a theory that vocal fry is simply a form of in-group communication between young girls.
Howard Stern on vocal fry
Play videoThis video is a voice recording of Howard Stern discussing vocal fry used by a contestant on the show the Bachelor. Stern discusses the use of vocal fry and refers to it as "an epidemic" that women are using where they begin to switch back in forth between a croaking voice and their "feminine voice"
Boys' keypads Versus Girls' keypads
This image of “boys’ keypads versus girls’ keypads” shows ideologies about gender and texting. Apparently on a woman’s keypad, there are only three not-so-much-informative words: hm, ok, and oh, while boys seem to text normally, at least in words or sentences. It also shows a phonological feature of women’s texting habits like “hmmmmm, okkkkkk, ohhhhhh” which seems unnecessary when conveying information. In the place of the punctuation button, women apparently use two emojis: smile and wink. This may indicate two things: women’s talk is more cooperative, emotional and encouraging; or women’s talk is mostly not genuine, since whatever others text, women only reply with a happy emoji. Compared to the ideologies that women talk more than men, this keyboard image seems to show women scarcely text anything more than three non-informative words and emojis. However, they both portray a negative image of women’s talk: not too much content. The anecdote also portrays a binary distinction between girls’ talk and boys’ talk, and ignores the varieties of how women/men actually talk in real life.
Sh%t Southern Women Say, Episode 1
Play videoThis comical satire highlights common phrases and slang frequently used by southern women. These iconic sayings can also index their southern roots.
Japanese Gendered Language: How to Talk Like a Girl or Boy
This article discusses gendered language in Japanese, which includes the origin of "feminine language" (which started off as a form of "vulgar" language that schoolgirls were using) and how gendered language can be used as a form of self-identity or as a way to rebel against the strict standards of Japanese language. In the language ideology of Japanese, there have historically been opinions on who can use what type of language and how, but this article demonstrates that these ideologies are changing today. [Published on 02-05-2014]
Gender Differences in Communication
Play videoAn animated video explained such questions: why men and women communicate differently; how the gender difference affects the communication style, and how gender-based forms of speech lead to miscommunication.
Bacon Bowl
Play videoThe Bacon Bowl commercial shows how knowledge about certain language communities and indexicality are used to make sales. The female host uses rhymes within her cheerfully delivered presentation, common staples of similarly-styled "As Seen on TV" commercials that index friendly and familiar qualities to appeal to a stereotypical mom or grandma audience. In addition, the host emphasizes diet and portions, along with rather specific cooking terms like "crisp up evenly" and "cut of bacon", and serves up an "I heart bacon bowl" pin as a free gift, further intending to index a generally female, family-oriented language community.
Rise of the 'vocal fry': Young women are changing how low they talk to sound more like Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry
Women in the UK are changing their voices to match American celebrities. [Published on 04-26-2016]
Men more likely to gossip than women - survey Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-83255/Men-likely-gossip-women--survey.html#ixzz44FDmpzhr Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Article coincides with the observations in Cameron, Deborah (1997), men's gossip surveyed as greater than women, with further specification concerning subject matter as non-objective and largely emotional in nature. The assigned reading felt pretty straw-man-esque in presentation, so further correlation is not in the least bit surprising. [Published on 03-01-2016]
Key & Peele: Meegan, Come Back
Play videoWe all know the comedians Key and Peele, but what most people don't know is that Peele has a popular "Meegan" skit, where he portrays himself as a woman. He has also voiced several female characters, one of them on the cartoon show "Bob's Burgers." This video is an example of not only how a stereotypical woman would act, but also how she might sound.
Mahogany performing CultureAppropriation
Play videoPowerful performance and poem from Mahogany. CultureAppropriation. Turns the appropriation of African American culture, using emotional references, provocative stereotypes, music...
Why the f*** shouldn't women swear?
This article talks about sexism in the fact that there is an idea that women should not curse. For example, it mentions that people tell female rapper, Nicki Minaj that she should not cuss, but the same is not said to male rappers, like Eminem or Lil Wayne [Published on 11-04-2014]
Gay Men React to Lesbian Slang
Play videoThis video shows a bunch of different gay men trying to decipher what different types of lesbian slang mean. They also go in to what their own gay slang is as well while trying to understand lesbian slang.
What Is Vocal Fry?
Stigmatizing a linguistic style prevalent among young females in our society.
what language barrier
A brief excerpt from Deborah Cameron's book, The Myth of Mars and Venus.
"Pick-Up Artist"
Play videoThis artifact is showing how different people communicate on a daily basis, and how each person has a different way of showing how the communicate. With this skit, most of it exaggerated for comical effect. But this is showing the diversity of people and there language through a simple conversation in group settings. In this skit there is gender rolls being played of femininity and masculinity, while showing the differences within the women's language. And how this "Art of the Pick-Up" class is teaching women how to properly express themselves.
Teenager Girls: The Real Disruptors of Language
Details historical evidence that young women have always been a driving force behind language change, including some changes previously credited to Shakespeare, for example. [Published on 08-07-2015]
The unstoppable march of the upward inflection?
A short piece speculating on the origins of/reasons for upward inflection/"Valley Girl" speech. [Published on 08-11-2014]
Emmanual and Philip Hudson- Asking all of them questions
Play videoDo men and women engage in conversation differently? This video by Emmanual and Phillp Hudson discredit the thought that men are straight forward with information rather that emotion or gossip. He is displaying the ability to understand gender language in the community that he is mocking, exploring ultra feminism and masculinity.
Do Women REALLY Talk More Than Men?
Play videoThis video is a great example of ideology and how it can be generally accepted; even with evidence to the contrary.
"Like Totally Whatever"
A poem detailing the ideologies related to some features of young women's language, and the effect this sort of policing can have on young women.
Indie Pop Voice
This is a somewhat-researched article on an apparently new phenomenon in pop music called "Indie Pop Voice." The voice involves the dipthongization and fronting of suppressed vowels in order to make them more remarkable. The result is an eerie augmentation that does not change meaning but nevertheless alters style. I believe that this phenomenon would be interesting to study: What are the linguistic conditions in which this most occurs? Can we find an origin in a certain speech community? Does this feature index particular demographics/identities? [Published on 10-06-2015]
The Onion & Women's Speech
The Onion takes a shot at joking about some features commonly criticized about women's speech in this piece. Some things that jump out are the descriptors, "high-pitched, kind of childish-sounding voice", "slower-than-average delivery and tendency to trail off at the end of long sentences" and "inflection that makes it hard to tell if she’s making a statement or asking a question".
Another part that struck me was the similarity between the end and Mendoza-Denton's point about silence and gender in the Anita Hill proceedings, "When reached for comment, Kushnick told reporters she was considering going back to her old habit of stoically saying nothing throughout the school day when she was simply judged by others to be a stuck-up bitch". [Published on 10-05-2015]
I got corrected on my color names
I was having a discussion with my friend Daphne when another friend of mine, August, walked up. The following discussion happened:
Daphne: I like the color of your shirt!
Me: Yeah, it's a nice minty color
August: Actually, it's sea foam...
Me: THIS SUDDENLY BECAME VERY RELEVANT TO MY EDUCATION
To be clear, August is a heterosexual cis-man. Maybe it's his inner academic that encouraged his exotic color usage.
99% Invisible Autoreply
The main reason I'm sharing this article is the auto-reply from the podcast 99% Invisible, near the top: it's set up for when people send in complaints about women's voices. I especially love that it mentions that they never get complaints about men's voices on the show. Also that they'll "consider the complaints within, well, never". So good.
Americans aren't the only ones convinced women speak differently
Building on the momentum of the recent surge in discussions over young women's voices in American English, this article points out that, cross-culturally, women's voices are seen as different. [Published on 07-24-2015]
A response to Naomi Wolf
Deborah Cameron's excellent response to Naomi Wolf. [Published on 07-26-2015]
Naomi Wolf misses the point about vocal fry: It's just an excuse not to listen to women
A response to Naomi Wolf's article suggesting young women should stop using vocal fry because it makes them sound less authoritative. [Published on 07-27-2015]
Young women, give up the vocal fry and reclaim your strong female voice
Author and feminist Naomi Wolf pens an article for the Guardian urging young women to stop using marked features like vocal fry and uptalk. [Published on 07-24-2015]
From upspeak to vocal fry: Are we "policing" young women's voices?
An episode of Fresh Air with sociolinguist Penny Eckert, in part a response to a recent episode of Fresh Air with a speech pathologist who criticized features used by young people in American English. [Published on 07-23-2015]
Vocal Fry on This American Life: Freedom Fries
A segment on This American Life that profiles the complaints the show has received about the use of "vocal fry," or creaky voice, by its female commentators. It profiles the dominant stereotype that it is used by young women only, and that it indexes a set of negative attributes. Penny Eckert is interviewed on her recent research on NPR and creak that finds an age-based difference in perceptions of creak. Ira concludes, "people who don't like to listen to young women on the radio have moved on to vocal fry." [Published on 01-23-2015]
Why we are saying "uh" less and 'um' more
Changes in our filled pauses [Published on 02-07-2015]
NPR: Talking while female
An NPR video piece on the criticisms of women's voices, including their use of higher pitch, HRT, creaky voice, and their evaluation as less authoritative [Published on 10-24-2014]
Can changing how you sound help you find your voice?
A NPR story profiling two women who worked to change their voices due to the stigmatization of their ways of talking. These woman worked with a voice therapist who normally provides therapy to transgender individuals. [Published on 10-14-2014]
Vocal Fry may hurt women's job propsects
An Atlantic article summarizing the study of Anderson et al that concluded that use of creaky voice makes women less hireable. [Published on 05-29-2014]
Vocal Fry doesn't harm your career prospects
A critique of the Anderson et al. study that found that females using creaky voice were judged less desirable. The author points out that the matched guise approach involved speakers who were taught to produce more creaky guises, so that the creak is an imitation. Further, the creaky utterances were longer and had lower pitch, raising questions about what listeners were reacting to. [Published on 06-06-2014]
Study: Women with creaky voices deemed less hireable
The Washington Post reports a research study that found that women who used creaky voice were judged by listeners to be less competent, less educated, less trustworthy, less attractive, and less hireable. The research team concludes that speakers should "should undertake conscious effort to avoid vocal fry in labor market settings." [Published on 06-02-2014]
Girl vs. Woman
A 2013 Harvard Crimson article about the terms "girl" and "woman" as terms of reference.
"Ultimate Man Cave" Paint Colors
In 2011, Canadian paint company CIL paints renamed 27 of their paint colors to appeal to male shoppers, with names like "Dirty Socks, "Midlife Crisis, and "Iced Vodka."
Citation: Lakoff, Robin. 1972. Language and Women's Place.
High School asks female student to pledge to stop cursing
A Catholic High School in New Jersey asks female but not male students to pledge to stop cursing.
Japanese Women's Language: Commercial
Play videoA 2006 Japanese commercial that spooks Japanese women's voices.
Gender and the performance of Pitch
(Enlarge image)A graph of men and women's fundamental frequencies in apparent time. The expected difference in mean pitch given differences in the size of the laranx is greater in practice, suggesting that pitch differences are exaggerated during the performance of gender.
Harvard Sailing Team: Boys will be Girls
Play videoA sketch from the Harvard Sailing Team displaying male actors using "women's language."
The Mindy Kaling Backlash
A 2012 Jezebel article discussing the negative reaction to Indian American writer/producer/director/actress Mindy Kaling, who has been characterized as "brash" and cocky for speaking confidently about her career.