It’s the raspy, low voice synonymous with the likes of Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Julia Fox.
But vocal fry is more likely to be used by men than women, according to a new study.
Researchers have challenged the assumption that vocal fry – also described as a ‘creaky voice’ – is a hallmark of young women’s speech.
Instead, they argue the opposite is true, turning the stereotype on its head.
‘The narrative took hold in the early 2010s, when a wave of mainstream media articles framed creaky voice — aka vocal fry — as a rising “affectation” of young women,’ Jeanne Brown, from McGill University, said.
After asking listeners to rate voice creakiness, she discovered that the main driver of vocal fry was low pitch rather than gender.
And it turns out men and older speakers exhibit more creak than young women.
‘The conflict between that finding and everyday perception, where women are routinely flagged as creakier, suggests the bias is real but socially constructed, rather than grounded in how women actually sound,’ she said.
Many celebrities, like Kim Kardashian (pictured), Paris Hilton and Julia Fox, speak with ‘vocal fry’ – a raspy, low voice that drags out certain syllables
Ms Brown played voice recordings for listeners and asked them to rate the perceived ‘creakiness’ of the sound
In the last few decades, vocal fry has been linked to a lack of confidence and intelligence. Some people argue that it sounds unpolished and unprofessional.
Some famous examples of vocal fry being used by women include the opening lyrics ‘Oh baby, baby’ in Britney Spears’ song Baby One More Time.
It’s also used heavily by Sia in her song Chandelier.
Ms Brown said people may now have a social expectation about who ‘should’ sound creaky, which could explain why the bias continues to spread.
When it comes to men, some famous examples of vocal fry being used include David Bowie in his song Let’s Dance.
Right Said Fred’s tune I’m Too Sexy also significantly features a creaky-style voice.
Sean Connery’s timeless line – ‘Bond, James Bond’ – is also exceptionally creaky, and he is considered the ultimate cultural example of masculine vocal fry.
Morgan Freeman, widely considered the gold standard for narration, also relies heavily on consistent vocal fry.
Sean Connery’s timeless line – ‘Bond, James Bond’ – is also exceptionally creaky. Meanwhile Morgan Freeman, widely considered the gold standard for narration, also relies heavily on consistent vocal fry
Ms Brown said she plans to continue studying social biases in vocal perceptions.
‘I hope it shifts the central question from ‘Why do young women creak so much?’ to ‘Why do we perceive and judge creak the way we do?’ she said.
She added: ‘Advice telling women to avoid vocal fry to protect their careers [and] social perception puts the burden on speakers rather than challenging listeners’ biases, and that framing does real harm.’
The study has been presented at the 190th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.
Its abstract reads: ‘Acoustic analyses reveal that men and older speakers exhibit more creak than young women.
‘I argue that, together with previous work on gender and creak, these results provide little empirical support for the notion that young women are creakier than other speakers—contrary to popular belief.
‘Capturing the complexity of creak requires an integrative approach that considers interactions between acoustic, perceptual, and social factors, rather than treating any single dimension or demographic as explanatory.’
Experts have previously discovered that whales and dolphins also use a type of vocal fry to catch prey.
The study revealed that marine mammals such as the sperm whale, killer whale, oceanic dolphins and porpoises have evolved an air-driven nasal sound with distinct similarities to a certain American drawl.
Until now, it has remained a mystery how these animals – known as toothed whales – produce sound that can travel far and fast in murky and dark waters, up to 2km deep.
Scientists from Denmark recorded sounds made by both trained dolphins and animals in the wild.
They discovered these animals, like humans, have at least three vocal registers – the vocal fry register, also known as creaky voice, which produces the lowest tones, the chest register, which is similar to our normal speaking voice, and the falsetto register which produces even higher frequencies.
