that voice.....ugh

Post Reply New Topic

there seems to be a trend developing and gaining ground, especially with younger women, that i cannot understand for the life of me. it has to do with the way people (usually female people) talk. it grates on my nerves whenever i have to listen to someone speaking with this kind of voice: it's that type of voice, you know the one, i'm sure you've all heard it...the one that makes the person speaking sound like a profoundly stupid child...the "OMG like i'm SO like totally in love with these shoes!" voice.....and there's a tone that goes with it too, a vapid air-head tone.

i really can't emphasise enough just how much i detest the sound of such a voice--and it's everywhere now. when i hear people speaking with this kind of voice and inflection it makes me want to grab the nearest sharp implements and plant them in my eardrums to make the sound go away. why does anyone intentionally make themself sound like this?

i'm wondering if AS women are less prone to this than NT women because we are less likely to follow social "norms" (especially gender-based "norms") generally speaking?

does anyone know what i'm talking about?

oh and to be fair, i believe there is a male equivalent of this stupid-child-voice phenomenon: let's call it the "dude-bro" voice. i think everyone has likely heard that one as well, and it's just as obnoxious. but i'm curious to know if other women on the spectrum recognise what i'm talking about and if they feel pressure at all to speak that way themselves. i've never tried (outside of my apartment) because i don't think i could maintain it without it sounding like obvious parody. funny enough, when i do try it out i end up lisping and sounding more like a gay man than a young woman (it doesn't help that i have a rather deep voice for a woman).

I know the voice.
I only use it to parody the type of people who use it.

Is that the "valley girl" voice?

possibly--but if so it has morphed into something far too widespread for my taste.

You took the words out of my mouth. Super gay 80's song.

I think there is a super gay movie too. (Meaning HAPPY, of course).

Ugh, yes, I know which voice you're talking about. I've never used it, and I never will, not unless I'm mocking it. I really don't get why it ever became a thing...it doesn't sound attractive, it doesn't sound cute, it just sounds nasal-y and stupid.

On a related note, does anyone else notice that a lot of women receptionists say the same phrase, the same way, when they hang up a phone? "Hmmmngggg-- buh-bye!" I just don't understand it...

It wasn't until I read this that I realized this form of communication must have finally extracted itself from my area. I very rarely hear this anymore and when the stray person does (in public) I've noticed they are usually greeted with 'the look' from those around them... the response is probably why it is finally going away. Guess it had to go somewhere.. never though it would head north to Canada. You people are usually intelligent.

I know exactly the voice you mean - I've been complaining about it (at least inside my head) for at least 10 years.

I think it's so unattractive, but it seems like somehow it became the "hip" voice. UGH!

You mean the voice that like goes with like the "text speak" ?

Text speak is my pet peeve. When I get an email from a professional acquaintance and it uses "teenagerish" text speak..... I want like ummm to throw up like... OMG ! !!

hate to break it to you, but canada is not chock-full of rhodes scholars.

I know it from things like YouTube and tv, and to me it seems like a typically American thing as I hardly if ever hear it IRL. I don't miss it at all, so to say Ugh, cannot imagine what it must be like being with such a person for any longer than 3 minutes. And as it seems typically American, I suspect these girls and women use their voice like that on purpose.

unfortunately i think it's more accurate to say it's a "north american" thing. we used to have stricter canadian content laws with our broadcasting/media up here, but they've become lax in the last 20 years or so and as a consequence we've been inundated with american television/movies/music and it's definitely had an americanising effect, especially on the younger generation. sometimes i feel like we're being culturally annexed by our neighbours to the south, and i rue the loss of what was once a unique national cultural identity.

I know the "stupid-child-voice" and the "dude-bro" voice all too well, and I completely agree with you!

I think I know what you mean eventhough I'm from another country.
Is it the same sort of theatrical girlish voice that constantly utters the words "oh my god"? And what about these girls who turn everthing they say into a question like there is a totally obsolete questionmark at the end of every sentence. Very annoying!