Whenever I see pieces about vocal fry I just can’t stop thinking about Burroughs and Spare Ass Annie
I think half an hour of Burroughs is probably enough to cure people of most issues they have with vocal fry.
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Yeah, commercial media advertisers, let’s not worry about my sister’s voice or legitimize discounting her opinions based on her style of speech.
The House GOP wants to harass Planned Parenthood and gender violence is still an underreported public health epidemic. Let’s have some more sustained investigation and reporting on those issues.
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I associate that vocal fry sound more with the boss in “Office Space.”
OK, you got me! 
Just imagine if talking like Rosie Perez or Betty Boop becomes a thing. Naomi Wolf will desperately wish for vocal fry.
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But shouldn’t the onus be on you to prove that this “norm” is, indeed, a norm? I haven’t really seen this, and spending a fair amount of time listening to people invested with “authority” or “leadership”, I haven’t noticed this.
That said, I think a lot of people are missing the entire point of this; it isn’t about telling people NOT to do something, it is telling people that they shouldn’t HAVE to do something. These are different things, but the response shows that people are primed and ready to find ulterior motives in everything. Calm down, read a bit closer, and don’t automatically assume that everyone is out to oppress someone.
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Personally, my voice fries a bit whether I want it to or not, it isn’t an affectation. This is partly due to heavy weed smoking in my younger years, and various vocal fold abuse. I do not yell often, but when I do, I can yell hard enough to spray blood, which has no doubt left my voice scarred. When I want to do some voice work, I need to warm up for a long time, days, to even get some of the cracks out of it. Improving my enunciation over the years and being more attentive has somewhat minimized the lazy sound. But what people call fry is simply subsonics. Any air impulses which are too slow to be perceived as pitched sound will by conveyed as brief pops or clicks. The vocal tract and folds comprise a resonating cavity and membrane, so any irregularities in its vibration make clear formants unlikely. Scars can be heard as undertones or overtones to target formant frequencies. Or, when pushed, the voice can take on mostly unpitched qualities. The tension and position can be played with a bit for different effects, but I suspect that a clear voice is more versatile.
Maybe it’s because the article itself is a bit muddled on that point - she doesn’t like vocal fry herself, but still doesn’t want to be seen as shaming women whose voices have this quality? It seems to me that she is still telling women what type of vocalization they should use, just putting it in a slightly less authoritative manner…
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It’s upspeak in text.
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Vocal fry is pretty specific; other components of the stereotypical SoCal accent include question-mark cadence and vowel fronting. The thing is, that accent is everywhere. I’ve heard it here in Texas and on the East Coast. I’ve suspected for years that it’s more about hiding regional accents for social mobility. Some linguist type ought to look into that.
By holding up Kardashian and linking to a video that calls it annoying? I am sure women all over are feeling the yoke lift off their neck after that.
The Kardashian’s are part of what leads to this crap, and what people want to emulate when they adopt foreign vocal stuff. Saying it is annoying, and telling women that they don’t have to do it for empowerment reasons aren’t mutually exclusive. I find it annoying (not as annoying as people making every statement a question), but if you want to do it, do it, as long as it is YOU wanting to do it for some actual reason and not just because you think you need to because some idiot celebrity does it.
I agree, the article, and point, would have been better served by leaving out the annoying bit.
You think the NPR reporters are emulating Kardashians and foreign vocal stuff?
Sorry about the questions. It was just the most passive aggressive way to point out the absurdity or your points.
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Katie Mingle (of 99% Invisible) crafted this response to people who feel compelled to complain about women’s voices on the show. It’s basically “fuck you” but said more politely.
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Well… duh. Don’t all women aspire to be like Kim Kardashian? I mean, fashion, shoes, money…? /s
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(Apparently this a super-exciting topic around here! 
)
Today a friend posted this “response” from Deborah Cameron, apparently a former professor of Naomi Wolf’s. It is nicely done, echoes (or presages) much of what people here have said.
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That must be why men are always described as “shrill harpies”.
Glad to know you don’t “see gender” though!
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