Is there a reason why a lot of gay men speak with a lisp?

I honestly have no clue but I don't.

 

I had to check the dictionary to know what a lisp is
"a speech defect in which s is pronounced like th in thick and z is pronounced like th in this."
Intriguing. I had and probably still have a difficult time to pronounce "th" properly. I really treasure my "s" and "z". I sometimes speak in a somewhat high-pitched voice though. In fact, my voice was the reason I was ostracized in secondary and high school year
If it takes an effort for you to speak in a lisp, then it's not natural for you. It's not who you are. You are not repressing anything. Simple as that.

 

As an official member of the bitch-about-frequently-created-threads squad, I can assure you that this isn't a topic that is too often discussed. And you're not going to offend anybody! It's actually a really interesting subject, and although I don't have any knowledge on it, I'd love to see how this thread works out.

 

Oh, do they?

I have found many more gay men who don't speak with a lisp than those who do.

 

Tho moik toython ith gay?

No, I'm not sure that's true about your statement. I think what you hear as a lisp is more like an accent or manner of speech than a true lisp.

 

It's always possible that they stand out more so you done notice the guys who don't speak that way. It may be a case of seeing what your looking for

 

It's called false pattern recognition.

 

I've found many more gay men who speak with a lisp than straight men who speak with a lisp. In fact, I've met many more straight men in my life than (openly) gay men and not one has had a stereotypical gay lisp. The point is that gay men have a higher fraction who speak with a lisp than straight men. As the OP said, he understands not everyone, and even maybe the majority, of gay men don't in fact speak with a lisp. Also, whether or not it's a REAL lisp (speech disorder) or not, stereotypical gay speech patterns are colloquially known as a lisp.

Anyways, I agree with the OP (obviously) that it seem that more gay men have lisps than straight men. However, I don't know the answer, but this has actually got me curious to know. I hope some people may be able to provide good information or speculation as to why! I would guess it is "cultural."

 

I've wondered about this, too. I don't think that the majority of gay men speak this way, but there does seem to be a correlation between being a gay man and having this particular speech pattern.

In fact, there is a documentary about this.. I haven't had the chance to see it, but here is a trailer. [YOUTUBE]R21Fd8-Apf0[/YOUTUBE]

I have heard the theory that homosexuality in men could be a result of "feminization" of the fetus (biologically speaking). Disregarding the lisp, this could account for the more feminine pitch of some gay men's voices, maybe?

 

I don't know. If you look at the media, I think we would all independently come to the objective conclusion that a high proportion of gay men have a lisp than straight men. Even if the media is not representative of the general public, it would still be an interesting question to ask why gay men in the media more often have a lisp.

 

I think the lisp thing is a bit of a misconception. I think a stereotypical gay man pronounces his 's's with a lot of sibilance rather than as a 'th'. If that makes sense.

In my formative years, I saw 'maleness' as disgusting (Maybe in the same way that young boys think girls are 'gross' and vice versa. Although maybe that's just a stereotype, too.) and I thought I would rather be a girl, so I started trying to mimic girls. Maybe that fact that a lot of us tried to fit in with girls when we were very young meant that we adopted more feminine ways of talking.

 

I don't see it as a lisp so much as a manner of speaking or dialect. It's just sounding out the end of sentences and words differently.

And for the record, I know of only 1 person in the gay/bi men's group that speaks this way. We usually have 12-15 people there.

 

Eh, I guess it might be just a coincidence. Or a stereotype.
Or maybe it's just a strategically placed gay-dar.
GAY-CEPTION!
Just kidding, I really have no clue. Seriously, who started that?

 

Cause we all come from the same planet silly

No in all seriousness i think it is just a coincidence many gay men have a lisp because I know some that certainly don't and I don't think I do. I have hearing loss so I honestly don't know what my voice really sounds like that much.

 

Thith isth stho offensive.... Thtop posting things like thisth.

 

At the moment I am practicing the "zzzzzzzzz" and "sssssssssss"

Sample error...straight men outnumber gay men by a huge huge margin. Therefore it is hard to compare the two groups. Is there any stats about the percentage of the lispy gay men?

I do have a speculation though: imitation. A small (and possibly very impressionable) group see a bunch of gay men speaking in lisp and they start copying that manner of speaking.

I'm quite curious about the origin of the lisp. Feminization of the fetuses is one theory, but then I don't see many girls speaking with a lisp either.

 

I think it's mostly an affect, to differentiate oneself and/or camp it up. That is especially true when the person can turn it on and off. And, while I may not care for drag, watching a guy act and talk femme and bitchy, and then turn it off, is far more entertaining and eye opening.

 

From what I understand it's a socialect. Some gay guys I've met have claimed to have always talked this way, others started after coming out, probably as a signal to other gay men they're gay. I don't have an accent/lisp so I really can't say, but like the OP I am fascinated by it.

 

The gay lisp or accent as they call it, kind of turns me on. I think it's sexy. Then again I'm not into real masculine acting/looking men. Personally I think it's something that's learned, either by being around gay men who speak that way, by hanging around women and adopting a more feminine manner of speaking, or it's deliberately learned. I have to admit I've thought about learning how to speak that way myself, and may yet try. Anyone know of any guidebooks or videos? Every guy who speaks that way I assume is gay. I bought some gay books (on purpose of course) from a cute guy at Barnes and Noble who had the accent, and I later found out that he was indeed gay. I think its a great way to reveal your sexual orientation to a greater number of people without actually having to say it.