Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

Montell explores whether gay males have a distinct way of speaking. While there is no distinct “lesbian” dialect, linguists have identified certain traits as common among gay men in the US. While certainly not all gay men use this speaking style, common traits are the sibilant s (often confused with a lisp), more plosive k, t, and p sounds, longer vowel sounds, using upspeak, and generally sounding more nasal. Montell describes this dialect as a learned behavior, which gay men learned from each other and from gay representation in the media. She believes that some gay men speak this way to signal their identity to others and embrace their sexuality. The author notes that some of the features of this dialect make gay men sound more feminine. She calls this “gender inversion” and claims that it is what makes gay men’s verbal expression so noticeable.

The author claims that lesbians tend to identify more with their gender than their sexuality, and so do not feel the need to signal their sexuality through a dialect that is unique to their community. Moreover, gay men also have a more extensive history of using slang and codewords to communicate because of the intense stigma of male sexual relationships and the centuries-long criminalization of sexual acts between men.