Performing graysexuality: A segmental and prosodic analysis of three voices employed in the construction of the graysexual self

Abstract

While recent work in sociophonetics has focused on the speech of gay men ( Gaudio 1994 ; Podesva 2007 ; Podesva, Roberts & Campbell-Kibler 2002 ), lesbian women ( Camp 2009 ; Van Borsel Vandaele & Corthals 2013 ), and transgender people ( Zimman 2017a ), the speech styles of asexual individuals remain understudied. This study analyzes an interview with a graysexual and homoromantic cisgender student at a research university in California, examining the segmental and prosodic characteristics of three voices he uses to construct and position his graysexual identity: a questioning voice, a judgmental voice, and a non-desiring voice. The analysis finds that the questioning voice is characterized by decreased speech rate, high F 0 , and modal phonation; the judgmental voice, by low F 0 ; and the non-desiring voice, by low F 0 , narrow F 0 range, low intensity, reduced gesture, flat facial expression, and a centralized vowel space. The results emphasize the importance of stylistic reticence to the construction of graysexuality.