High Rising Intonation
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).
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.
Kroll Show - Rich Dicks - Dunch
Play videoIn this Kroll Show skit, Rich Dicks, Drunch, the two men, Wendy and Aspen, embellish their “rich” lifestyle by the purchasing a restaurant. They get the name of their restaurant by combining “dinner” and “lunch.” Customers who are are in the same socioeconomic community as them elongate words and use a higher pitched tone resulting in intonation after a statement. Additionally, they insert “r” in several words, like in Liam Nersen(Neeson), carsh (cash), and hur (here), resulting in a /ar/, /ʌr/ or a hooked schwa sound. To differentiate the socioeconomic status between the characters, the chef in the skit does not follow the same language performance as Wendy and Aspen.
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]
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]
Filmmaker and Speech Pathologist weigh in on what it means to "sound gay"
An episode of Fresh Air, profiling a filmmaker who made a documentary about sounding gay, as well as an interview with a speech pathologist who makes a number of troubling comments about features of youth language, including high rising terminals, creaky voice, and discourse markers. [Published on 07-05-2015]
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]
Like, You Know
Play videoA performance from poet Taylor Mali entitled "Like, you know" that comments on the use of a number of features of youth language.