It’s well known that men and women use language differently to perform their genders based on societal influences, but how does this gender performativity extend to people who feel less pressure to conform to societal gender expectations, such as LGBTQ+ individuals? While heterosexual men and women are expected to perform their gender in “masculine” and “feminine” ways, respectively, non-heterosexual people have more freedom in terms of gender performance: gay men can be effeminate and lesbians can be butch. How does this translate to language use? People will often say that a man “sounds gay” or has a “gay lisp,” but it’s unclear if there’s any validity to these claims. Various studies have examined whether homosexual individuals use language …show more content…
Women produce this sound with a higher peak frequency and a more negatively skewed spectrum than men,” and cite studies that have found that self-identified gay men also produce the /s/ sound with a higher peak frequency and a more negatively skewed spectrum than heterosexual men (Mack and Munson: 2012). This may indicate that some gay men do have a “gay lisp” and speak in a way more similar to women, and could be performing their gender in a more feminine way. Mack and Munson’s study, which includes experiments focusing on /s/ quality and perceived sexual orientation, finds that listeners associate a lisp with “gay-sounding” speech, but the study focuses only on the perception of sexuality based on lisping rather than the actual sexuality of speakers, so it cannot support the accuracy of the stereotypes. It does, however, provide evidence that, because people perceive certain speech as “sounding gay,” there are certain characteristics that people associate with being gay, even if the people with these characteristics aren’t actually
masculinity in men) indexes heterosexuality, while non-normative behavior (i.e. effeminacy in men) indexes homosexuality.” This states that the perception of heteronormative speech essentially goes undetected and sounds more natural or standard in conversation. n this study we aim to understand the functions of code-switching as it pertains to gay speech. One of the many reasons people code-switch is to fit so they are accepted in any social situation. Whether it’s amongst friends, or co-workers, one tends to adapt to their surroundings via linguistic variables such as meticulously articulated phonemes, and prescriptive or descriptive linguistic formalities. Previous research has shown that gay speech is self-managed, and gay men tend to code switch depending on context (CITE). Our research is aimed to understand the functions of code switching and how men who identify as gay, bisexual, and transgender change their speech depending on their environment. While complex, our goal is to address how race and region affects vocabulary and voice production. Our intent is to determine how and why the ability to hide (or project) one’s sexuality or gender identity and conform or reject dominant social lexical norms, and how it is replicated depending on what identity the speaker is trying to
Faculty Researchers want to know Does sexual orientation have an impact on nonverbal behavior in interpersonal communication? Yes, sexual orientation does have an impact on nonverbal behavior in interpersonal communication. People can detect sexual orientation in homosexual or heterosexual rather they speaking verbally, nonverbally or can be engaged in both communication skills at the same time. However, women and men have different ways of using body gestures and we will learn more about it throughout my paper. The method was used in this study half women and half men participants in the sexual orientation nonverbal test. All dyads consist of individuals of the identical sex. All homosexual participants were conscious of their own sexual orientation
There are some interesting similarities between the Deaf and Gay communities. They both share the same important characteristic and that makes them a minority that is not passed down through families like other minorities. Members of the Deaf and Gay communities tend to lack structure and common ground as minority groups supported by families and communities. Both groups have struggled for civil rights and have had similar paths as the communities fought to develop their own history, culture, and mobilize their individual populations (Healy). Both the Deaf and Gay communities have their own obstacles and stigmas, and the people in the middle of the two groups, like being deaf or gay, inherited the challenges of both communities.
In a current study done by Blashill and Powlishta they sought out to examine factors that are involved in the negative reactions to gay males. Results indicated significant main effects for gender role and sexual orientation, indicating that males who display femininity, regardless of sexual orientation, are typically viewed negatively (Blashill & Powlishta, 2009). In addition, gay targets are evaluated negatively even in the absence of information about gender role characteristics (Blashill & Powlishta, 2009). In another study done by ...
There is a lot to know about the LGBT community, and it starts with the fact that gender and sexuality are very complicated things. As society is becoming more accepting, people are using this time to discover their gender identity and sexual orientation. First off, everyone should know that gender identity is different from biological sex. Biological sex is defined by the parts a person is born with. In the article Transgender Frequently Asked Questions, gender identity is defined as how the person defines themselves, and by how they feel about their gender(Heffernan). There are many gender identities not just boy and girl, but there are ones in between such as gender-fluid. And, there are genders identities outside of boy and girl, such as non-binary or agender, meaning the person does not identify with gender at all. People who do not identify as a boy or a girl may ask to be referred to as ‘they’ or other words instead of ‘he’ or ‘she’. These are called preferred pronouns. There are transgender people who identify as a male when they were born with female parts, and vice versa. Sexual Orientation is defined by who or how a person loves(Heffernan). There are many sexual orientations, and it is not as black and white as gay or straight. Bisexuality is
As far back as my mind would let me travel I remember my grandmother telling me, “Jaylon, there are three things in life you can’t escape. Death, taxes, and sunday school.” Well it turns out she was right. Come rain or shine I was there every single Sunday morning service and since all my other grandmother’s grandsons took to playing sports and chasing women they left all the singing in church choir to me. Now I was always different and in my little town of Mount Pleasant they let you know just how different they thought you were. They called me weird, punk, sissy, and gay. My momma just called me special. The first time I ever heard the word “faggot” was when I was playing in the back of a pew one sunday after church. My pastor’s son, Matthew, delivered that two syllable death punch directly to my face after I showed him my Britney Spear’s album that I had gotten for my seventh birthday. Faggot? He called me a faggot. I was a faggot? What did that word even mean? Why did he call me that? Was I acting like a faggot? Upset and confused I asked my mom what it meant to be a faggot. She just looked at me with a calming smile, clasp my hands together and told me to pray. And I did. For years and years I prayed, but if there was one thing my grandmother was wrong about, it’s that there is a fourth thing you can’t escape in life, yourself.
There is quite extensive research on studies of lesbians and gays and the compulsory heteronormativity. One major researcher is Adrienne Rich.
It would be unjust to say that all gay men speak in this manner. To do so would ignore intersectionality. Intersectionality is the interconnectedness of social categorizations (i.e., race, class, gender), and creates overlapping social identities. Language can be influenced by these different social categories. Therefore, different groups of people can speak differently. For example, low-income, white gay male may speak differently that a middle-class, white gay male. Similarly, a gay man of color and a gay, white male may also speak differently. Therefore, we cannot assume that all gay men speak with a stereotypically gay accent, just as we can’t assume that all men who speak in a gay-sounding voice are
At this point, I’d like to define a few terms somewhat precisely, at least as I intend to use them in the context of this paper. In this paper, I use the term "queer" for two reasons: one of which is in the spirit of reclaiming a word that has traditionally been used to verbally abuse non-heterosexual people for decades, and secondly because in the heterosexual mindset there are no differences between bisexuals, gay men, lesbians, transgendered and transsexual people. Brett Beemyn and Mickey Eliason write: "We have chosen to use ‘queer’ because it best characterizes our own personal beliefs, and it potentially leaves room for all people who are attracted to others of the same sex or whose bodies or sexual desires do not fit dominant standards of gender and/or sexuality" (5). One of the first questions that must be answered, of course, is why is it important to look at literature from a queer perspective? Is a reader, such ...
In reality, gender is not based on one’s genetic make-up or their reproductive organs. Expanding on this, an individual does not have any control over their assigned gender, but everyone has a gender identity, which is one’s internal sense of being male or female. From a sociocultural perspective, gender roles have the greatest influence on gender as a social construction. Gender roles are the attitudes, behaviors, rights, and responsibilities that particular cultural groups associate with each sex. In regards to gender, the social construction theory acknowledges the connection the topic has with power and meaning, and states that social interaction, or “language” controls how these things are portrayed to individuals. Similarly, sexuality is socially constructed in a sense that, one’s sexual orientation depends on what they are taught to be “socially acceptable”. For example, a person who is raised by homophobic parents would most likely be taught that every aspect of homosexuality is wrong, and therefore they would be influenced to be heterosexual. While many would like to believe that people are born with their sexual orientation, that is far from the truth. All in all, when looking at the big picture, it is clear that race, gender,
Many of us have been reflecting on questions about intersex and what it actually is. I’ll be explaining the definition of intersex, how common it is the conditions of intersex and what is basically considered to be intersex. Intersex is when a person is born with a sexual anatomy or reproductive system that doesn’t quite fit the description of male or female. Some examples are, a person could be born with an outer appearance as a female but could have male anatomy on the inside. Also a person can be born with what looks to be as both male and female genitals, such as, a boy can be born with a small penis or a scrotum that’s divided forming what can look like a labia or a girl can be born with a very large clitoris or even not having a vaginal opening. Then there’s the gene mix up. A person can be born with mosaic genetics which means that some of her cells have xx chromosomes and some have XY chromosomes.
Society has shaped the thoughts and minds of many individuals and because of this personal beliefs towards LGBT people came into play. Society was constantly telling people that there was something wrong with them if they were LGBT and that they would go to hell for it because God did not approve of it and it was a sin. I would like to say that because society was judging people and denying them, that they were committing a sin. It is not their place to decide the fate of certain people, the only person that can make those decisions is God. God is the one that decides whether we are deemed worthy to go to Heaven or not. With that being said, I grew up in a family that is very religious on one side and the other side had their person beliefs
Everyone is a part of a community. Most people are a part of multiple communities. A community is a group of people that have a commonality. Sometimes it is based on where you live, hobbies, goals, etc. I believe that communities are created unconsciously and are connected to someone’s identity, especially when a person is considered a part of multiple communities. Sometimes, a person may connect very well with their community. Sometimes, a person may feel very distant from their community. In the movie, “English Vinglish”, the main character, Sashi, shows examples on how communities are created through commonalities, and the acculturation theory. Sashi was a part of multiple communities. A few communities included her, her Daughter’s school,
Gay culture, or LGBT culture, is the culture shared amongst gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Gay culture varies widely based one one’s identity and location. Gay culture has come a long way, and throughout the journey is has caused changes in societal norms. The homosexual male shook the known gender norms causing an alternate outlook on gender roles.
The initial germinations of the Language and gender field began in 1922 with Otto Jespersen, who was a grammarian and a proponent of 'Deficit Theory' although the actual term 'Deficit Theory' was retrospectively applied to Jespersen's conclusions. In Jespersen's work he concluded the male language to be the normative and other variants such as women's, children’s and foreigner’s speech to be inferior and consequently deficient in comparison with male speech. Jespersen’s theories may seem politically incorrect and sexist within the modern moral universe but we must read him with an understanding of the context of the time. In 1922, women still played a subordinate role in society compared to that of men, male superiority was a common and accepted idea; Jespersen was expressing the status quo. In regard to this, it is my view that we should view Jespersen's work without prejudice and judge him with logic and reason. If we are earnestly committed in our search for truth, we cannot let ethics cloud or distort our findings, it would wrong to invest in the sciences but then disre...