Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Linguistics

Reader 1

Mary Paster

Reader 2

Carmen Fought

Abstract

Previous linguistic research has noted the remarkable ability of LGBTQ speakers to tailor their identity expression contextually based on the perceived safety of their context: studies of queer style-shifting have contrasted this group’s behavior in queer-friendly contexts with their speech in socially conservative ones. However, the patterns identified by this research do not account for the behaviors of outspokenly conservative queer people whose political ‘safe spaces’ are unaccepting of their queer identity. In order to index their belonging to two groups that are frequently in opposition with one another, I suggest that the style shifting behaviors of LGBTQ conservatives may differ from the patterns observed for queer speakers more generally. This thesis explores these unique style-shifting behaviors through case studies of three queer right-wing influencers, measuring the pitch patterns of their speech across a variety of interactional contexts. Combining linguistic studies of phonetic style-shifting with non-linguistic theories on gender, sexuality, and political identity, this thesis seeks to further explore the intra-speaker variation of queer speech at the intersection of gender/sexual identity, political ideologies, and performance. I situate the findings of my phonetic research within feminist and queer critiques of homonationalism, and connect my analysis of phonetic speech styles with the way they reflect speakers’ attitudes towards their own identities and communities.

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