ChatterBank1 min ago
Camp characteristics
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Not all gay men have camp voices, and plenty of straight men have camp voices. Anyway for those gay fellas who do, this is my take on it.
Some DEFINITELY put it on after they come out, and it also surely can be picked up from other gay chaps when the freshly out lad starts hanging around with them. Especially the american-ism of making every sentence into a question: that's undoubtedly learned.
Some always have had slightly higher voices. There are studies linking homosexuality to testosterone levels, and since it is testosterone which controls the length of the vocal cords and the pitch of the voice, this is totally understandable. There's a difference between the pitch of someones voice and campness, but a higher voice tends to add to the overall effect.
My one gay mate has never had a low voice (I've known him since before puberty), but neither is it very high. He hasn't started speaking camp since he came out (thank god! not that i would really mind, but it really wouldn't suit him).
don't all lesbians talk like Frank Butcher? Oh sorry, you wanted serious.
I think it has to be something they put on. I mean, have you ever heard a 9 year old boy talking like that? It's an affectation, and you're right, only the more camp homosexuals do it. I was in love with a gay guy at uni who I thought was straight. He decided to come out after kissing me one night. So I turned him... lovely!