Women with fake little girl voices

[HennyPennyHorror]

Is it me or are they becoming more prevalent? I moved to Australia 4 years ago and they are RIFE here. I was constantly confused by the high-pitched voices and thought "Is this part of the accent?" But I've realised it isn't. It's a forced, high-pitched squeak which some women do.

I know some women naturally have high, young sounding voices but I can tell the fake ones a mile away.

I HATE THEM so MUCH! Speak properly for God's sake!

I have no idea whether it's a current fashion, but I used to work with a woman years ago who did it.
The whole team were mid to late 20s, yet she'd put on her "helpless woman" voice as I termed it when speaking to the men.
I thought it was a vocal version of fluttering eyelashes and she used it to get them to do stuff for her.
She was intelligent and educated (PhD) so I did wonder why she felt she had to resort to it.

As regards Japan, as far back as 1991 I could find papers written saying:
"These pitch differences arise, it is suggested, because of a contrasting sociosemiotic function assigned to pitch in the two speech communities whereby Japanese high pitch is typically reserved for the enactment of female roles while English high pitch is adopted by both sexes to express politeness."

Also papers on whether or not gay (men) sounded gay.

Given the actual innate differences in the vocal tracts of males and females, perhaps no surprise that speech itself has become gendered. Even if you aren't speaking a language like japanese which seems to have explicit male and female forms of speech. Although the quote that:
"Men, however, tend to show a "self-oriented conversation style", telling stories and expressing their expertise on topics being discussed more than is typical of women in these studies." shows that some things cross many boundaries!

The women sounding more childlike, part surely of a whole wider thing, where women are treated by some men as if they aren't proper responsible adults. Women have been trying to manipulate their own speech in order to progress for a long time. The infantilization approach given dominant older males, no surprise at all..........

I know what you mean OP but I'm the reverse situation (aussie in UK). I know one older British woman who does it and a younger colleague here does it. The older woman does it to manipulate her audience to her way of thinking (not sure if it's the voice or the ensuing tantrum that people are swayed by) and the younger woman does it as a defence mechanism to avoid criticism from customers. My boss employed her because she "sounded fragile" and he concluded this would dissuade customers from getting upset with her when our service failed to deliver. He was wrong unsurprisingly. But good to know he is not above exploiting others weaknesses. Over the years, I have seen her baby voice steadily disappear, thankfully. Another colleague had the full on baby voice going. I think hers was defensive too,with a touch of "please like me" thrown in. Her other mode of talking was direct, blunt and taking no prisoners. Interesting to observe. Next time I come across it I'm going to ask "are you aware you are talking differently and like a child?" see what comes back!

I think it is becoming more prevalent. I see it as part of the growth in gender stereotyping promoted by social media.
To be a girl/woman you have to have long hair, wear floaty dresses, paint your nails and talk in a „feminine“ way while fluttering your eyelashes.
If you conform to that model you are a woman regardless of sex/chromosomes. And obviously, if you do not conform to that model you must be a bloke.

I knew a family (of all females) who used to speak to each other in the voices of the Rugrats (remember them?) Even when i was 12/13 I remember hating it, especially when the mum did it.

I know a woman who only does this around men and it’s quite disturbing. Seems subconscious to her but I’m conscious of it and it’s annoying to think she associates it with her attractiveness.

The Rugrats being babies...

I haven't noticed it on the increase with speaking, but I have noticed pop music women's voices are going for a very young sounding, breathy sound. Along with it some other singers going for more of an Adele/Amy Winehouse sound, but in some ways quite similar. I don't think its a very healthy way to sing so it would probably be good to let it go.

Generally though, women are much faster to pick up on vocal trends and language than men are. I would avoid reading to much into them, some of it is kind of random I suspect, a singer like Adele gets famous and then all kinds of people want to sound like her and it permeates the culture.

I also think its natural for people to change their pitch in different situations, and men do this as well with people who are in authority over them or speaking to children. But they still don't sound like boys so maybe it is less noticeable, many women on the other hand can easily use the vocal range of girls.

I think I remember reading that when flirting, man tend to use their deeper register and women their higher. That might be mostly about emphasising sexual dimorphism though.

Sarah Millican's voice irritates me because it sounds fakely high

Yes BlueCornishPixie and EweSurname - I can relate to what you are saying. When I'm in a threatening situation, and I do find confrontation in general quite threatening, I can feel my voice change, and I'm not happy about it at all. Working on it.
I also know a woman who always seems to talk in a different voice and use 'cute' expressions and a giggle when she's actually being quite confrontational or even insulting ( a sort of I'm just having a silly little joke here so can't take offence kind of thing.)
I think women do it to appear non-threatening or compliant whether as a safety mechanism, a way to be passive-aggressive, or as a way to seem more attractive to others (usually but not always men) and I do think it's often not a conscious thing. I also think it can be a bit contagious.

It’s the weird crackly, quavery voice I hear now that get me. Women (I haven’t heard men) talking as if they are having a breakdown or have just witnessed a hideous accident. A bit like Scooby Doo actually.

It’s an Asian thing

It’s the breathy little girl voices that seem to cover every classic song recently and completely ruin it, it’s so fake and makes my hackles rise.

It’s the weird crackly, quavery voice I hear now that get me. Women (I haven’t heard men) talking as if they are having a breakdown or have just witnessed a hideous accident. A bit like Scooby Doo actually.

I think that's the vocal fry or often goes along with it.

It’s the breathy little girl voices that seem to cover every classic song recently and completely ruin it, it’s so fake and makes my hackles rise.

And they often leave off the last consonant of words, as if they can't quite summon up that much energy.
At first I thought that it was an accent, but most don't seem to speak that way.

I hadn’t heard it (had heard of it) until there was a young woman interviewed in the radio with her quivering wee voice. I thought the poor thing had just escaped from a shark attack or something but no, it was something very mundane. I was crying with laughter ‘shaaageeeeeeeeeeee’.

To all of you who are puzzled why women do it because if a woman talks and responds like a man she is very often judged as being aggressive etc etc. So often when I watch younger people (Phd students and junior postgrads) in challenging situations (like answering questions after presenting at conferences), the male stereotypical response to questions is very aggressive and assertive when questioned by senior males this is usually seen as a good response and even if they are talking bollocks, they are seen as robustly standing up for themselves. Watching women respond to questioning by senior men, very often you do get the whole demure and self-effacing thing. As a female who doesn't do that, you very, very soon get seen as aggressive. If you're a dyke as well, then you also get the 'no wonder, man-hating lesbian' thing going on.
Women have to negotiate their way through such male-dominated and hierarchical environments using whatever tools they can. One of which is the non-threatening, infantilization act. It's not about annoying you it's about placating the man.............

I have one of those voices. I hate it, but I do. I think I am speaking like everybody else but when I listen back to myself on recordings, it's like Marilyn Monroe meets Minnie Mouse. It sounds like I think I'm being all cutesy but that is honestly not my intention!

@SomeDyke - Once I tried to talk in a lower, flatter voice at work (in customer service), and the reaction I got was unbelievable. Within about two seconds, a man called me a cunt. I got several complaints for being "rude" even though I was doing nothing else differently!

Now that you put it that way, it all makes perfect sense.

SomeDyke I KNOW it's about placating men. I also know some women can't help it because that's their voice.

But I wish NO women who didn't have tht voice wouldn;t do the FAKE one.

I'm low voiced...probably quite strident. I've been told I'm intimidating...guess what? I don't give a fuck. I don't CARE if people find me aggressive to deal with. I'm not...I'm just strong of voice and not afraid of anyone.

I run my own business and have a name which could be either male or female...when I first have contact with new clients through email, I know they think I'm a man because I also have a blunt communication style.

It works for me. I get work and once they realise I'm a woman it's never once lost me a client.

SomeDyke, you are probably right on the money there

As a big tall woman with a deep voice and (too much?) Natural confidence, I compensate by wearing very feminine clothes (dresses) and by smiling .... women have to smile more too

So often when I watch younger people (Phd students and junior postgrads) in challenging situations (like answering questions after presenting at conferences)

I used to work in an academic research group which was mostly female, and the Professor leading it was female.
It was the harshest environment I've ever worked in.
New PhD students doing their introduction presentation were ripped apart by everyone.
I wonder if it was a tactic encouraged by the Prof to toughen up her students for academic life?
One thing I've noticed about academia is that the people who answer assertively and aggressively are the ones who make it to senior levels. Both female and male, because plenty of men aren't like this as well.

Very interesting thread, and this is tangentially connected to my line of work so it intrigues me. Vocal fry is something different though - that growly, drawly, long-drawn-out sound in the lower register when air is released very slowly through the vocal cords. It tends to be associated with a lower rather than a higher voice.

Lizzie just anecdotally - DH once happened to walk past Alan Carr in the street as he (AC) was on the phone to someone, and he sounded.....completely normal. Nothing like his 'on-stage' voice!

I noticed vocal fry has become extremely common in mostly young, American actresses in the last few years.
I assumed it was just an acting technique which was the current fashion.
But people will emulate what they see and hear in films.

The fast show did skits on this year's ago.

Yes! My brother calls them HFBS - Hurty front bottome syndrome - the sketch where she has thrush and says she wants a real doctor (male) and then says she has a hurty front bottom - if he hears any female talking baby talk or with a babyish voice he always groans "Not another HFBS".

I have noticed more and more in adverts sound like kids (and I don't mean the Haribou advert!).