Pet peeve-thy name is Vocal Fry!!!

[iris lily]

What a difference from the way women spoke in the 40s--at least in the movies. I believe that speech pattern was called American Standard Theatre speech, which is the pattern they trained people on if they were going to be actors or broadcasters, etc. The tones were so round and full. Actually, I think elocution was a subject regularly taught in schools--like penmanship. Wow, two disciplines that have become completely as archaic as Greek or Latin. Now we're reduced to vocal fry.

Well, I have to say that I do not like films from the 40's because everything seems so mannered, 'specially the way that women talk. That and their hair. oh yeah, and the giant shoulder pads.

[cattledog]

I watched the clip and I honestly had trouble hearing what vocal fry actually was. I didn't detect it. I don't know any young women so I'm not sure I've heard it in real life either. Maybe I need to watch the clip again...

[Float On]

They said it's a woman only thing but I've noticed it in men as well. There is one preacher on the radio that anytime I skip over that station and hear him even for 15 seconds it drives me over the edge crazy. There is some commercial on TV with a young woman, I think she's talking about a school program she's gone through and she does it.

My vocal coaches in high school and college would have killed us if we talked that way.

[redfox]

Ok, meta perspective here... I love this! What a fascinating insight into how women mirror each other & connect with the group. We are both socialized and have the hormonal profiles to be relational. This is a fantastic example of the group bonding that especially young women engage in.

We all had our analogs to this behavior, and just like this characteristic, I bet we were unconcious of our group bonding behaviors. I am also interested to know if this vocal trend is cross cultural. The women in the vid were all middle class white women.

[KayLR]

Ya know, as much as I adore This American Life, there's quite a bit of fry going on there too. It's always kind of bugged me how the contributors on there all sort of sound the same.

[Tradd]

I had to laugh when I read this! There is a vocal technique used by some men in Russian Orthodoxy when they chant a Scripture reading, called "up from the grave." No, I am not kidding! Usually the deep, deep basses do this. They start very low, "down in their toes," as I call it, and then go progressively higher. Sometimes they misjudge the length of a reading and well, sound like they're either a strangled cat or they've been gelded. ;-) It's nothing but sheer performance and takes away from the service. You don't see it too often here in the States, but I was at a service once and heard it. But I've seen plenty of YouTube videos. Makes me laugh.

[chanterelle]

Ok, meta perspective here... I love this! What a fascinating insight into how women mirror each other & connect with the group. We are both socialized and have the hormonal profiles to be relational. This is a fantastic example of the group bonding that especially young women engage in.

We all had our analogs to this behavior, and just like this characteristic, I bet we were unconcious of our group bonding behaviors. I am also interested to know if this vocal trend is cross cultural. The women in the vid were all middle class white women.

I agree. So far, to name just a few, we have seen or rather heard Valley Girl, Joisey Girl, Nasal Nanny speak, Cyndi Lauper-like cutsie speak, Rosie Perez raspy sweet ghetto speak and Jackie Kennedy rich little girl wispy voice all being emulated by segments of the population at one time or another. Popular culture and media presentation both bring them into being and hasten their demise.
Cadence, intonation, vocal stresses, even vocabulary, are all learned social/cultural induced esthetics.
Nothing new but very interesting to watch evolve.

[JaneV2.0]

Ok, meta perspective here... I love this! What a fascinating insight into how women mirror each other & connect with the group. We are both socialized and have the hormonal profiles to be relational. This is a fantastic example of the group bonding that especially young women engage in.

We all had our analogs to this behavior, and just like this characteristic, I bet we were unconcious of our group bonding behaviors. I am also interested to know if this vocal trend is cross cultural. The women in the vid were all middle class white women.

What a kindly take on teenaged girls! I on the other hand thought "Buncha brainless ninnies!" One woman's "relational" is another one's "herd-like."

(And yes, I know teenagers are about as individualistic as minnows. I can remember that far back.)

I wasn't immediately clear on what "vocal fry" was. I kind of had an idea. Then I walked through the kitchen where I caught Amy Goodman on KPTK.
She has a voice that conveys such world-weariness that you expect her to topple off her chair in a full swoon at any moment--the cumulative weight of the misery in the world being such a burden and all. Sisyphus probably had vocal fry, come to think of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ26N5Uz410

[catherine]

Before I read this thread I had never even heard of vocal fry, but I was thinking of you guys big time and had to bite my tongue when my son's girlfriend's friend came for Super Bowl tonight, and she had the mixture of vocal fry and Valley Girl BIG TIME. I couldn't believe it. It was like a caricature talking between the gutteral growls and every sentence being stated in the form of a question. I thought I was seeing a Saturday Night Live skit.

[JaneV2.0]

Anna Wintour (Vogue editor). Listening to her makes one long for a lozenge.