Jul 1, 2025
Оfftopic Community
Оfftopic Community
Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
Featured content
New posts
New media
New media comments
New resources
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Resources
Latest reviews
Search resources
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
OnTopic Community
Trivia & Polls
Just Add 'Um': Who's To Blame For Little-Girl Voices?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="sportsnut" data-source="post: 425"><p><img src="http://jezebel.com/assets/resources/2007/06/goodling061507.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />They say women pick clothes to impress women, but do they pick voices to impress men? That's the question we were left with after listening to reporter Ashley Milne-Tysen's <a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/06/14/PM200706147.html#" target="_blank">segment</a> on NPR's '<a href="http://jezebel.com/gossip/marketplace/" target="_blank">Marketplace</a>' about the disturbing -- and apparently growing -- trend of adult women who sound like little girls. Like <a href="http://jezebel.com/gossip/monica-goodling/" target="_blank">Monica Goodling</a>, the 33-year-old, right-wing Justice Department official with a suspicious law degree, bad ethics and the voice of a twelve-year-old. Seems that we weren't the only ones cringing during Goodling's <em>Legally Blonde</em>-like <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/05/24/BL2007052400566.html" target="_blank">testimony before Congress</a> last month: In fact, Milne-Tysen started off her Marketplace segment with an audio snippet of Goodling's remarks before the mostly-male House Justice Committee, then spoke to business and communication experts about this sort of vocal dumbing-down among female professionals. The theory behind it is that some women are either so scared of their own professional shadows or so afraid of being labeled feminists that they "overcorrect" by speaking and/or acting like young girls. Take Emily Longrio, a female professional who says she took voice training at the request of her boss. And what did Longrio learn? The power of "um"!<p style="margin-left: 20px">Making declarative statements is kind of intimidating. It's a lot easier to say "Um, I'd like to talk about our annual report today," than "I'd like to talk about our annual report today.</p><p>Apparently an "um" really changes things! But, seriously: If, as <a href="http://jezebel.com/gossip/naomi-wolf/" target="_blank">Naomi Wolf</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502071.html?hpid=opinionsbox1" target="_blank">intimated</a> in the <em>Washington Post </em>yesterday, the childlike behavior exhibited by certain women is some deep-seated attempt to reassure the world of their vulnerability and femininity, who exactly is pushing them to do so? Other women? Or the same type of men who criticize someone like <a href="http://jezebel.com/gossip/hillary-clinton/" target="_blank">Hillary Clinton</a> for being <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/books/review/05dallek.html?ex=1182312000&en=8ff7a08b1ba032a0&ei=5070" target="_blank">nakedly ambitious</a> and "shrill"? We're curious here, people. Weigh in, in the comments. </p><p><a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/06/14/PM200706147.html#" target="_blank">Professional Women? With Little-Girl Voices?</a> [Marketplace]</p><p>Related: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502071.html?hpid=opinionsbox1" target="_blank">The Image Of Helplessness</a> [WashingtonPost]</p><p><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/06/15/little-girl-voices-on-grown-up-women/" target="_blank">Little Girl Voices On Grown Women</a> [WSJ]</p><p><a href="http://feeds.gawker.com/~a/jezebel/full?a=i2Bn7m" target="_blank"><img src="http://feeds.gawker.com/~a/jezebel/full?i=i2Bn7m" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></img></a></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://jezebel.com/gossip/just-add-.um./whos-to-blame-for-little+girl-voices-269879.php" target="_blank">More...</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="sportsnut, post: 425"] [IMG]http://jezebel.com/assets/resources/2007/06/goodling061507.jpg[/IMG]They say women pick clothes to impress women, but do they pick voices to impress men? That's the question we were left with after listening to reporter Ashley Milne-Tysen's [URL="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/06/14/PM200706147.html#"]segment[/URL] on NPR's '[URL="http://jezebel.com/gossip/marketplace/"]Marketplace[/URL]' about the disturbing -- and apparently growing -- trend of adult women who sound like little girls. Like [URL="http://jezebel.com/gossip/monica-goodling/"]Monica Goodling[/URL], the 33-year-old, right-wing Justice Department official with a suspicious law degree, bad ethics and the voice of a twelve-year-old. Seems that we weren't the only ones cringing during Goodling's [I]Legally Blonde[/I]-like [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/05/24/BL2007052400566.html"]testimony before Congress[/URL] last month: In fact, Milne-Tysen started off her Marketplace segment with an audio snippet of Goodling's remarks before the mostly-male House Justice Committee, then spoke to business and communication experts about this sort of vocal dumbing-down among female professionals. The theory behind it is that some women are either so scared of their own professional shadows or so afraid of being labeled feminists that they "overcorrect" by speaking and/or acting like young girls. Take Emily Longrio, a female professional who says she took voice training at the request of her boss. And what did Longrio learn? The power of "um"![INDENT]Making declarative statements is kind of intimidating. It's a lot easier to say "Um, I'd like to talk about our annual report today," than "I'd like to talk about our annual report today.[/INDENT] Apparently an "um" really changes things! But, seriously: If, as [URL="http://jezebel.com/gossip/naomi-wolf/"]Naomi Wolf[/URL] [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502071.html?hpid=opinionsbox1"]intimated[/URL] in the [I]Washington Post [/I]yesterday, the childlike behavior exhibited by certain women is some deep-seated attempt to reassure the world of their vulnerability and femininity, who exactly is pushing them to do so? Other women? Or the same type of men who criticize someone like [URL="http://jezebel.com/gossip/hillary-clinton/"]Hillary Clinton[/URL] for being [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/books/review/05dallek.html?ex=1182312000&en=8ff7a08b1ba032a0&ei=5070"]nakedly ambitious[/URL] and "shrill"? We're curious here, people. Weigh in, in the comments. [URL="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/06/14/PM200706147.html#"]Professional Women? With Little-Girl Voices?[/URL] [Marketplace] Related: [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/15/AR2007061502071.html?hpid=opinionsbox1"]The Image Of Helplessness[/URL] [WashingtonPost] [URL="http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/06/15/little-girl-voices-on-grown-up-women/"]Little Girl Voices On Grown Women[/URL] [WSJ] [URL="http://feeds.gawker.com/~a/jezebel/full?a=i2Bn7m"][IMG]http://feeds.gawker.com/~a/jezebel/full?i=i2Bn7m[/IMG]</img>[/URL] [url=http://jezebel.com/gossip/just-add-.um./whos-to-blame-for-little+girl-voices-269879.php]More...[/url] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Name
Verification
Please enable JavaScript to continue.
Loading…
Post reply
Top