The gay lisp

El Diablo · #1 10-25-2006, 09:26 PM

NT locked goodsamaritan's post in OOT about the gay lisp. Probably because of the tone of good's post as well as OOT maybe not really being the right venue for serious discussion of this sort of thing.

But this is something I've always found strange and have thought about in the past. I did a search and found some interesting links.

http://joeclark.org/soundinggay.html - economist article
http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/codemix.htm - code switching and gay speech
http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin2/020218c.asp - Researchers examine patterns

Lounge Linguists, thoughts?

goodsamaritan · #2 10-25-2006, 09:36 PM

I of course have no evidence to back this up, but I think the gay lisp evolved as a socially acceptable way for gay men to continuously advertise that they are gay. If a gay man wants to attract as many other gay men as possible, he'll optimize his search if every guy he meets can tell that he's gay. Otherwise, he risks meeting the man of his dreams, but missing the opportunity because the other guy didn't know that he was gay and potentially interested. The lisp accomplishes the goal of constant advertisement without requiring the gay guy to do anything too outlandish.

The more difficult questions, though, are how this tendency got started and exactly how people can recognize it.

NT! · #3 10-25-2006, 09:47 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think the gay lisp evolved as a socially acceptable way for gay men to continuously advertise that they are gay.

[/ QUOTE ]

Throughout history, there has very rarely been an 'acceptable' way for gay men to advertise that they are gay. There are very few places even today where it is really 'acceptable'. This is a terrible, terrible theory.

goodsamaritan · #4 10-25-2006, 09:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think the gay lisp evolved as a socially acceptable way for gay men to continuously advertise that they are gay.

[/ QUOTE ]

Throughout history, there has very rarely been an 'acceptable' way for gay men to advertise that they are gay. There are very few places even today where it is really 'acceptable'. This is a terrible, terrible theory.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe socially acceptable isnt the right term. But it is good way for a man to subtly advertise that he is gay at all times.

NT! · #5 10-25-2006, 10:42 PM

I think a 'subtle' advertisement would be something like matching your socks with your belt. thaying you jutht looooove the new prada thtore on fthifthhtht avenue is not what i would call subtle

Dominic · #6 10-25-2006, 10:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I think a 'subtle' advertisement would be something like matching your socks with your belt. thaying you jutht looooove the new prada thtore on fthifthhtht avenue is not what i would call subtle

[/ QUOTE ]

isn't this the kind of crass response for which you locked the other thread? El D put some effort into this post, and all you're doing is making "gays talk funny" posts. Bravo.

lef1000 · #7 10-26-2006, 12:06 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I think a 'subtle' advertisement would be something like matching your socks with your belt. thaying you jutht looooove the new prada thtore on fthifthhtht avenue is not what i would call subtle

[/ QUOTE ]

i am THO giving you a THTAR

it took me about a minute to figure out what u said
then i couldnt stop laughing
also ur a hipocrite for making fun and then giving a star, but ur a damn funny one.

here comes someone making fun of my grammer and spelling mistakes....

hmkpoker · #8 10-26-2006, 03:33 AM

It's advertising, and it's also conformity. Gay people have managed to develop "gay culture," which entails listening to Madonna and house music, clubbing, dressing in trendy and expensive clothes, and being snotty and superficial. What that has to do with being attracted to males I haven't the faintest, but it's something for people with no sense of identity to attach to.

Kneel B4 Zod · #9 10-26-2006, 03:18 PM

I've often wondered about this. apart from other things in this thread, some things to consider:

some of this is just a result of hanging with other gay guys. ie I run with the hipster crowd, I'll probably end up wearing white belts. I run with the gay crowd, I'll probably end up talking like they do. Similar to the way many groups of people tend to adopt the same running jokes.

it also may just be a common way of expression and attraction. Similarly, why do many lesbians cut their hair to look like men's hair? B/c they may feel more comfortable this way, and it also may serve to attract fellow lesbians.

(granted, the % of lesbians with butch haircuts is lower than the % of lisping gay guys, but I think it's a somewhat similar phenomenom)