Sexuality

Question 1

Gay Code Switching (Lumby)

Answer 1

This language feature of homosexuals is a type of slang or secret language and was both a part of belonging and surviving. This language still occurs in place where homosexuality is illegal, like the Gayle language of South Africa or Bihasa Binan in Indonesia. In today’s society however, this ‘slang’ is more of part of asserting an identity in an overt, open way, resisting gender norms.

Question 2

Bent, Munson et al.

Answer 2

This study into the influence of sexual orientation on vowel production found that there was no innate difference at birth but that homosexuals selectively adopt (choose) their speech patterns in order to fit into a particular social group (which fits with Trudgill’s convergence theory). Lesbian and bisexual women produced less fronted /u/ and /ɑ/ than heterosexual women. Gay men produced a more expanded vowel space than heterosexual men