using the "gay voice" and triggering gaydar

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

A lot of people are not sure if they have the "gay voice" or not! Strangers
generally seem to assume that these men are not gay unless the strangers are
themselves gay. The whole business of gaydar involves not only invariant
features that one is not aware of but also variant features that one is not aware of.
Especially in the old days, when so many people were in the closet, gaydar
triggers were both unconscious and conscious attempts at signalling a gay
identity (e.g., the use of subculture slang in an ambiguous way, as for example (in
the early 1940s): "That is a very gay tie that you are wearing!": a
sophisticated homosexual would take this as a possible signal and not merely a
complement--and might answer, "An old auntie gave it to me" ("auntie" = 'elderly
homosexual').

On the other hand, I know lots of even very young gay men who have what
appears to be an invariantly gay voice, whether they are actually gay or not
(usually, it seems, they are). And there are others who trigger the gaydar but show
no manifestations of actual same-sex attraction in their lives.


In a message dated 2/29/08 11:29:50 AM, gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM writes:


> BTW, why are we in trouble if gay people don't have the gay voice?
> Neither I nor any of the other three gay people I hang around with
> have it at all. I tried once or twice to use it just to see if I could
> but completely unable to. BB
>




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