Posted on 05/21/2011 8:01:50 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
FRIDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- For the average listener, the vowel sounds in an unfamiliar voice quickly give away the speaker's sexual orientation, a new study finds.
"I'm not sure what exactly the listeners are responding to in the vowel," study lead author Erik C. Tracy, a cognitive psychologist at Ohio State University, said in a news release from the American Institute of Physics. "Other researchers have done various acoustic analyses to understand why gay and heterosexual men produce vowels differently. Whatever this difference is, it seems that listeners are using it to make this sexual orientation decision."
When hearing an unfamiliar voice at the other end of the phone line, most people instantly judge the stranger's characteristics based on how they speak, and the new study suggests listeners are usually pretty accurate in their determination.
"This is a phenomenon that occurs every day," Tracy said. "We are constantly speaking with people we don't know on our phones, and just from this conversation, we might be able to identify personal characteristics about that person, such as their gender, age, race or sexual orientation."
In order to understand how this process works, Tracy and a colleague focused on one characteristic -- sexual orientation. They asked seven gay and seven heterosexual males to record single-syllable words (including "mass," "food" and "sell") and then played the recordings for listeners. The study participants were then asked to identify the sexual orientation of the speakers when hearing only the first letter sound of those words, the first two letter sounds, or the entire words.
The listeners were unable to determine the sexual orientation after hearing the sound of the first letter in the spoken word, for example, just the "m" sound in the word "mass." But, "when presented with the first two letter sounds [for example "ma"], listeners were 75 percent accurate," Tracy said. "We believe that listeners are using the acoustic information contained in vowels to make this sexual orientation decision," he explained.
The findings are scheduled to be presented May 23 in Seattle at the meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Experts note that research presented at meetings has not been subjected to the same type of rigorous scrutiny given to research published in peer-reviewed medical journals.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about sexual orientation.
Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
BINGO!
The word “that”, stretched out ‘til it’s almost two syllables, that sounds gay to me.
Isn’t old linseed married? With children?
And why does it happen only AFTER they "come out?"
I think they have a super-secret finishing school they go to, where they learn "the talk" and "the walk" and the rest of the affectations of flamerdom.
It’s not exactly a lisp. It’s a distinct accent or something. I can’t describe it, but I know it when I hear it.Perhaps it’s Austrian?
Really. Not once in your whole life did you ever wonder why homos talk so weird?
Now that's pure.
I guess its an affectation they pick up from other gays. I doubt they grow up talking that way.
I never wondered why snakes bite, either.
*groan*
I suppose they don't know many other gays until after they're emancipated as young adults, then flock to their own, and begin picking up the 'culture'.
I plan on staying as far away from Obama's bowels as possible, thankyouverymuch...
Slings and Arrows ~ Will do, ma’am.
On this thread, you could have given the exact same answer if she'd said "Keep it up"...
*nully, ducking and running for cover*
There’s the test for homosexuality. Just ask if the man is upset about the fact that linseed “ain’t gay.”
After all, he’s so attractive.
No, he is single and has said he is not gay, but I doubt many believe the not gay part. ;)
Graham has never been married and when asked by Robert Draper of the New York Times said “I know it’s really gonna upset a lot of gay men—I’m sure hundreds of ’em are gonna be jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge—but I ain’t available I ain’t gay. Sorry.”
^ Draper, Robert (June 28, 2010). “Lindsey Graham, This Year’s Maverick”. The New York Times Magazine. pp. MM22.
Oscar Wilde had a wife and two kids. Grahamnesty is a lifelong bachelor. G-d, I love irony.
If he was straight, his Southern Mama would have been nagging for grandbabies and gotten them or only given up nagging for them when finally she realized he was destined to be “the eccentric uncle”, (the one who never married, but adored his nieces and nephews and would look after her in her old age, wink, wink).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.