# The "Influencer Accent" | Internet Analysis

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** tiffanyferg
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Wf34tYZkE
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/44374

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

Hello my dudes. Welcome back to Internet Analysis. Today I want to discuss the influencer accent. Let's get ready for dinner in Sarrento, Italy. We're going to the US Open. So, let's get ready. Get ready with me and try out some of the new makeup products. — I've been obsessed with this spot for a couple years. The real tea is their whip. You've been asking how I've been keeping up with my skin with all the traveling. I'm obsessed with this. My hair looks so smooth, soft. — Tried the viral main squeeze smoothie. Dare I say that it's better than air wash. — Watch out, Haley Bieber. This is the Shark Cryo Glow Mask. — These are so flattering on. These are a fall staple. — The way that it's laying is insane. — I'm freaking obsessed with these. I'll link them below. — How have they developed this very specific recognizable way of speaking? So, today we're going to dig in. We're going to have some fun, but we are not here to make fun of women. Okay? I do believe we can strike the balance of analyzing these trends, behaviors, and performances without just falling into misogyny. And actually, we're going to have to dig into that, too. As usual, I'm interested in the why. Why do influencers talk like that? And also, why do audiences seem to hate it so much? So, let's dig in. What is it? What exactly are we talking about? First of all, the influencer accent is not actually an accent. That term is just shorthand for the entire sound and vibe. We're talking about the inflection, the cadence, the mannerisms. So, I've made a list of some of the most identifiable features and I'm going to do my best impressions of each. Okay. First, we have uptalk, upspeak. You have a rising inflection at the end of your sentence. So, everything sounds like a question. Number two, we have vocal fry, also known as creek. If you have vocal fry, you're going to sound like this. You can hear the creek. And number three, there's this specific cadence like pausing that sounds like they don't know what to say next. Number four, no. Because why are influencers always yelling? Number five, some classic overused influencer phrases. Hey guys, get ready with me. Oh my gosh, you guys. Literally so cute. I'm obsessed. Run, don't walk. And number six, the influencer hands, which can include talking with your hands, being very expressive with your hands, and some nail tapping. If you combine most or all of these elements, you're going to have the influencer accent. And I've seen many very funny impressions of this accent. For some reason, it gets me every time. Come with me. — Hi guys. So, I just wanted to let you guys know — like a lot of like using the bottom of your mouth and like you're enunciating with the bottom of your mouth, but you're mumbling. You're mumbling and you're frying. This is your sign to Noo-Noo. The viral noo-noo noo-noo. I'm obsessed. Good morning. You guys, I'm just — Hi you guys. Welcome to a day in my life in New York City. Why are you talking like that? Talking like what? — But why exactly do we love to hate the influencer accent so much? These are some of the most common complaints that I've seen. People say these voices are irritating and annoying like nails on a chalkboard. It feels like the influencer is putting on an act. Feels generic, overdone, and fake. So, I found a few examples that actually were Tik Tok ads that I came across in my feed, and I thought it would be fun to dissect them. — L'Oreal Paris sent me over their Color Sonic — partnering with Matrix to try their mega sleek anti-frizz top coat. — So, First Strike is dubbed. Both of these are ads, and yes, viewers don't typically enjoy watching ads, but some ads are more bothersome than others. If the ad sounds too much like an ad, literally obsessed. This is my favorite of all time. You're overpromising. Maybe it sounds overly scripted. — And I'm constantly having to color my hair. The first of its kind, an at home hair coloring device. — The comments on this one in particular were bothered by the shocked gasp face that continues for most of the Tik Tok. The creators trying to show like, "Wow, I can't believe this product is so good. " But they're overdoing it a bit, which makes it feel disingenuous. I also think the cadence and the tone on this. It's — a first of its kind. An at home hair coloring device that makes coloring your hair at home fast and easy and messfree. — It really sounds similar to Billy May's OxyClean. — It goes deep down below the surface to get rid of the stain and the odor. — And especially when you make lifestyle content and you're often promoting everything, whether that's sponsored posts, ads, Tik Tok shop, affiliate links, you're using a lot of salesy language. You're referring to talking points. You're constantly promoting your link in bio or I've got a dupe. This product is the best. I'm obsessed. You can only say that so many times before it starts to sound inauthentic. And if you're promoting or selling something on a near daily basis, it's going to get annoying and repetitive to viewers. Then you multiply that by thousands and thousands of creators. Of course, people get tired of this while they're

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 10:00) [5:00]

scrolling their FYP. It's part of a larger like greater fatigue of ads and content. and so much going on all at once. But when it comes to why people hate this, it's not just about the voice. More so, it's that the influencer accent is often paired with the most unlikable parts of influencer culture, such as the influencer to-do list, which I made a video on. Okay, I just finished my meeting and I am about to go to Pilates. Okay, I just got back from my workout. I'm about to go lay out by the pool to get a little tan before I meet Victoria and we go to Nou for dinner tonight. This one is such a perfect example. It's actually incredible. Got such a busy day. Meeting Pilates cool Nou. It's almost a parody. Hence why this whole accent affectation and the mannerisms are so deeply bothersome to many viewers. They hate it right off the bat because it reminds them of this caricature of the rich white maybe spoiled woman. Some other reasons I saw um people say that this speaking pattern reminds them of people they dislike in real life. Maybe mean girls or bullies from their school days. So the girl that made my life a living hell in high school, she had this very particular way of speaking. It's becoming an influencer accent. It's becoming an epidemic amongst influencers. I can't witness people speaking like that because it just takes me back. Others say the voice just sounds mean, kind of snarky, or like someone's making fun of you. And lastly, some people just generally hate influencers and despise anything associated with them. And I might just have to make an entire video on that because it's fascinating. So now we can get into why do influencers talk like this? Some of these features are just common in girls and women's speech in general, like vocal fry and uptalk, which we're going to dig deeper into in the next section. But are there other reasons or explanations behind these other like very influencer specific features? Like, why do influencers pause like that? — That's not how we talk in real life. Obviously, I talk like this, like I'm talking to you right now. The reason why I think we do this is because we're trying not to say like or um as much or so. And like, see that pause? I'm thinking about what I'm supposed to say without saying um and uh I think that's pretty straightforward. It makes sense. You're literally thinking through what you're going to say next. And if you don't post yourself speaking online, you may have never experienced this. But truly, like, pause this video right now and try to imagine you're narrating a little vlog. I promise you, it is probably way harder than you would expect. I do film myself often, obviously, but I struggle with this. It almost feels impossible not to fall into that pausing cadence. Hey guys, today I'm going to film a video and I need to get it done and then I need to start editing. Hey guys, I'm going Okay, aggressive. Hey guys, today I'm going to be filming a video and editing it later. See? Oh my god. Now, what about the influencer hands? Why? Why do they do that? Why are they always doing that? The nail tapping, as you probably know, it's ASMR, right? Which in itself can be very polarizing. But for the people who love it, it is music to their ears. And regardless, the tapping demands your attention. I'm not very good at it. Like, they're literally tapping on the glass. We are in the fishbowl. Did I get a smudge on my lens? Hope not. When it comes to nail tapping or like showing your hands on camera, bonus points if you have your nails done because obviously they look more interesting, but they sound even better. Like there is just a natural inclination to click clack when you've got long nails. I also think the influencer hands are just kind of about one just pure relatable awkwardness, not knowing what to do with your hands. — Are we talking about the Jenzie young mom influencer hands? Is that something we're talking about? Is that something that we're talking about? Sometimes it's this. It's always like, "Come with me and my daughter today as we go to the zoo. " Or two, hyper awareness of how you're framed within the camera. If you know you're on TikTok, you've got this little screen. Seeing some movement is going to be more interesting, more captivating than if I sat still. But before we continue, this portion of today's video is sponsored by Dropbox. Let's all share our biggest work pet peeve. File management. Same. Especially when I'm dealing with a ton of files across different platforms. I'm struggling to find the files I need or I can't access them. It is truly the worst. That's why I'm so excited to be working with Dropbox. Dropbox helps creative teams stay stressfree by keeping their content secure and organized. We can spend less time juggling systems and instead focus on the work that truly matters. Creating content. Baby, I've been a longtime Dropbox user because this is by far my favorite way to manage large video files. Anytime I need to send or receive footage, the files are huge. They're way too big to email. GH, for example, I occasionally work with a video editor, so I need to send them a ton of stuff. When I film these videos, that's like

### Segment 3 (10:00 - 15:00) [10:00]

over an hour of talking head footage alone. Then I also have tons of B-roll from other videos and clips that I've downloaded. Making one internet analysis video requires many assets, as we say in the biz. Luckily, Dropbox transfer makes it super easy to send over all those files up to 250 GB. And on the recipient's end, they can download the files with just one link. They don't even have to have their own Dropbox account. It's quick, simple, and straightforward, which saves me time, so I can get back to writing. Another feature I love from Dropbox is the storage. My content is synced across all my devices, allowing me to access everything whether I'm home, on my computer, or on the go. Anyway, you're probably already familiar with using Dropbox for file transfers. But have you heard of their new tools like Dash? You can quickly search for and organize content across different work apps. 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Even if the influencer accent absolutely annoys you, it grinds your gears. It is in fact very effective in capturing and holding attention. Especially on an app like Tik Tok where you have less than a split second before the viewer is going to scroll. You have to make it immediately clear that your video is worth watching. You've got to have a hook. And as repetitive as certain phrases are, they're a clear signal to the audience. Get ready with me to, you know, immediately what the video is about. As a viewer, our brains are judging the content instantaneously. If your FYP sends you like a dark, grainy video, millennial pause. Um, — hey guys. Today, um, — you're just going to scroll, but the next video starts and you're probably not even consciously thinking about this, but you see immediately it has good camera quality, good lighting, and sound. You're listening. Jenzie shake. Oh my god, you guys. I am literally obsessed. Now, here's the thing. You may not be into lifestyle girly content. Maybe you actually hate it and nothing would make you scroll faster. But for the sake of this example, just pretend you're into it. Or think of whatever other kind of content you love. Your brain is locked in. All right? So, if the influencer has caught your attention, now they need to keep you watching. All right? Viewer retention is the name of the game. There is a linguistics creator named Adam Alexa, aka etmology nerd. He wrote this book called Algo speak all about the ways that our language and speaking habits have been affected by social media and algorithms. Like middle school kids now are using the word unal alive in their essays. It's wild. He wrote a chapter on influencer accents. So I'm going to be sharing some quotes throughout this video, but he's also made a couple Tik Toks about it. I'll just let you listen. — I think the most interesting thing about the influencer accent is how it follows predictable patterns. Hey guys, today we're trying this new makeup brand from Sephora. In our example, you'll notice the uptalk always starts with a rising tone on the final stress syllable. That'll be the he and the four. And then there are high tones on the following syllables. Guys and r. — I love hearing these sorts of explanations from linguists because many of us can hear certain things are happening. We recognize it, but we just don't have the vocabulary to describe what's going on. So, it's really helpful to get a breakdown like this. — But the influencer is trying to constantly keep your attention. So, they employ a technique called macroproity or using more tones than necessary. They'll also frequently lengthen their vowels to emphasize certain key words or just fill dead space. And this is the same thing that Sesame Street is doing when they say stuff like, "Let's learn our ABCs. " Oh my god, I just realized Adam reminds me so much of Drew Monson. — Nobody actually talks like that. It's a form of code switching that influencers learn how to do in this app because it keeps people watching their videos. Probably most influencers don't ever actually think about this. We're not actively trying to manipulate you. We just figure out through trial and error what actually works. So, we're sort of behaviorally conditioned into saying things that will get more views. And then there's the people who just figure it out through observational learning or trying to copy other influencers, which is exactly how socioelects like this perpetuate themselves. And I think that's really cool. — a very important point. This is learned behavior, whether conscious or subconscious, on the influencers end because we are all competing for attention. We're emulating what we have seen as successful. We want to get views, so we're trying to give people what they seemingly want. So many content creators are not trying to have the influencer accent, but many of us catch ourselves all of a sudden. We are accidentally picking it up and we stop and we're like, "Oh, well, I was editing my vlog and like, let me know why I am a bland influencer. Just listen. " Now, it's time to tie up this mess. — Am I also using the influencer accent? I

### Segment 4 (15:00 - 20:00) [15:00]

think everyone who's on social media right now and consistently posts is guilty of this Tik Tok social media influencer accent. I created a painting that matched my eyes. And I absolutely love that example because it's really relatable to see that realization in real time as you're filming. Her like real voice obviously sounds more natural, but it also doesn't feel as engaging on camera. — I created a painting that matched my eyes. — First, the rising tones make it sound like the video is always unfinished, so people have to keep watching because they can tell that something's coming next. Second, it makes the person seem like they're seeking validation from you all the time. So, you as the viewer feel like you're more actively participating in the video, which makes you more engaged with it. Third, it's metal linguistic signaling communicating social information. It's telling people, "I'm a certain type of person. I'm an influencer. " And then that frames your perception of how much you think you're going to enjoy the video. — That is a really fascinating point and it's so true. Even if you think you hate influencers, someone being instantly recognizable as an influencer or a creator is a benefit. It's a signal that, hey, the video you're watching was not made by an amateur. This person is a seasoned creator. they know what they're doing. As an influencer, you can tap into this formula whether you're big or small. This familiarity will be comforting to the audience at large at least. Now, maybe right now you're saying, "I don't care. I still hate it. I do think the influencer accent is manipulative. I don't like it. " My question to you would be, do you think that like news anchors for example are manipulating you? Because there are many professions that have a very distinct presentation style. — They're called loos. Little keychain toys that kids can collect and trade. But what may be hidden inside them? I'll let our fentanel correspondent take it from here. — American news is everything is big. Everything is loud. Whereas this is kind of like this has happened today, but tomorrow there'll be more news. — That's very ITV news. BBC is slightly more inquisitive. News is sort of a little bit more — is direct speaking to you live. It's a little bit more I think like curious with BBC. It's like, yeah, only a few months ago, walking down the parade. Yes, Harry and Megan. — To name a few more, there's like the TED talk accent, the sports broadcaster, even the pastor, the preacher. To answer my own question, I do actually think all of these performances are manipulative in the sense of like clearly they want something out of you. They want you to be engaged. But yeah, my point is like you hate influencers, but not the manipulation of performance overall. You know what I mean? Now I'm going to spiral about how all socializing is actually manipulative. All of these voices and affectations have been proven to be effective within that certain genre, medium, or setting. And then over time, that specific style is seen as the standard. That's how you're supposed to talk in that context. What's really interesting is I asked about the influencer accent on Instagram, seeing if my audience had any examples or creators that they wanted me to look into, and so many of the replies mentioned Sophia Nygard. and that surprised me because I know she has a very distinct speaking style. Hello friends and welcome to another video. Today I am going to be melting one of every lipstick from Sephora together. I'm going to be destroying every bath bomb from Lush. And I know that her voice can be polarizing. Some people absolutely love it. Some viewers hate it. But I wouldn't think of Sofia as emblematic of the influencer accent, the one we've been talking about so far, like at all. I don't think she has the same voice or the mannerisms. Maybe a handful of the same features, but to me, she enunciates very strongly. Tonight, we are going where no bad science video has ever gone before, the bathroom. She sounds more like a quirky TV reporter than like the classic influencer girly. She's very clear and very expressive. I don't think she gives like detached vocal fry at all. She's also talked a lot about how these comments about her voice really hurt her and make her feel self-conscious, which is unfortunate because again, I think it's like one of her most signature features. But it's important to note, as Adam etmology nerd argues, there are actually many different types of influencer accents. The most well-known and mocked is the lifestyle influencer accent, like the NYC girlies, but he's also labeled the education influencer accent that he himself falls under. In this kind of genre, you want to speak very clearly and quickly. You want to sound curious but authoritative. No stumbling or pauses, just a constant stream of information to keep people hooked. — The M dash is not even on a keyboard. So why is it all over Chat GPT? This is a story about pros, keyboards, and chat GPT being too American. — The fact that your vision gets blurry in water is not because it's like putting pressure on your eyes or something. Is actually because the light bends when it moves from the water into your eye and it bends in a way that your eyes are not set up for. And the third category that Adam has mentioned is the entertainment influencer accents. Basically, think Mr. Beast. — Can you slice a bullet with a katana? — Find this random person anywhere in the world. Win 10 grand. — Let's make a pizza

### Segment 5 (20:00 - 25:00) [20:00]

with power tool. — They're just so loud. They're loud and they have very short, simple words because yes, they are trying to capture the attention of every 8-year-old on the planet. And they're definitely going to be captioning their videos with that annoying specific font. Even the text feels like it's yelling at you. What's up, guys? Today we're talking about the influencer accent. Anyway, I think most people who create content full-time become aware of these trends and expectations in their genre. We develop habits based on trying to capture attention, but also like we are aware of trying to not be so annoying or over the top that people are going to click away. Obviously, that would be counterproductive. And another point is that it is incredibly hard not to be affected by what you see other influencers doing or even what you watch as a viewer yourself. I don't want it to sound like I'm saying everyone should just assimilate and adopt the influencer accent. I think it's natural to pick it up. I can see why people do. But a big problem with a lot of international creators is the Americanization of the internet. International creators often feel compelled to soften their accents and Americanize the way they speak to cater to the largely American audiences on platforms like Tik Tok and YouTube. And as Adam writes, American English is the lingua frana of online communication. It is considered the default, the standard that everyone is supposed to adhere to. I had a few influencer mutuals reach out and comment about this saying that they have found themselves changing their accent or changing the words that they use because if American viewers complain that they can't understand you h that's going to harm your viewer retention or maybe people won't come back. So over time creators end up changing how they speak. In Algo speak Adam shares an example of a Tik Tok creator named Sarah. Essentially, she started posting with her British accent and then decided to switch to her Indian accent because she wanted to because that felt more authentic to her and then she was accused of faking her Indian accent. — Saw a lot of comments of people being like that accent is [ __ ] fake. And honestly, I understand why you think that way because I've been speaking like this for like my entire career on the internet. — She was literally born in India and later moved to the UK. So, there's nothing fake about either accent. This is just a classic example of code switching, which many white people may not be as familiar with, but most people of color totally understand this. They experience it. Maybe they speak differently, even a different language at home versus out of the house. Anyway, when Sarah moved to the UK, quote, "In order to make friends, she had to learn to use her British accent as her outside voice while keeping her Indian accent as her inside voice. When she eventually started making video content, she considered that an outside context. So naturally, she used her British accent. After a while, Sarah began to realize she was unintentionally whitewashing herself and began to feel a growing disquitude about masking who she really was online. She even received backlash especially from fellow Indians who found that her Indian accent was embarrassing. So then this continues into the point of like which accents are considered to be aspirational, which are acceptable and lauded as again professional sounding, respected. Adam makes the point, of course, every time someone conforms and kind of assimilates to a more Americanized accent, it becomes more and more expected for others to do the same. This section on the Americanization of the internet could totally be its own video. There's so much to be said about linguistic racism, accent discrimination, language bias. I wish I had time to get into it, but I just wanted to quickly acknowledge how intertwined the influencer accent is with whiteness, and what we consider to be marketable to the masses. I know it's much easier said than done, but I do hope that more creators feel empowered to speak in their accents or even code switch between them because that reflects their reality and it is genuinely interesting and charming. I love to see people embracing their natural accent or dialect and I love to see them create content because it not only normalizes it, but it's just interesting. When I hear somebody with a lovely accent, I'm fascinated. I'm hooked. Next up, I have this kind of classic example of influencer accents and just how deranged Tik Tok comment sections can be. There is like a new or like emerging influencer accent that I'm hearing everywhere and it's like every consonant is aspirated. Like there's extra air behind every single consonant. Very curious to know if people like know what I'm talking about or where this is coming from or like have a better vocabulary to describe what I'm hearing. So, Eleanor is a creator that I've followed for a while. So, this came across my feed. I thought it was an interesting question. I saved it and I was like, "Huh, I would love to hear an example of the aspirated consonant. What does that sound like? " So, I go to the comments. Maybe somebody shared all of the comments immediately ignored her question and they all just go, "The madness of you posting this with vocal fry is crazy. I'm going to hold your hand when I say that. I fear the impression is not necessary here. " First

### Segment 6 (25:00 - 30:00) [25:00]

of all, the irony of trying to roast someone when like clearly you're so meme brain rotted that all you can think of is regurgitating the same old phrases that we see in every single comment section. But it's fine. Anyway, I was so bothered because I was like maybe she does have an influencer accent. All right, but that's not what her post was about. Clearly, all of you only listened to like the first 1 second before commenting. So, Eleanor responded. And even as she explains this all again, guess what? The comments still don't get it. I posted a video. So that's how you sound. — I posted a video. — She sounds completely normal, by the way. That's not even an example of the influencer accent, but you can tell now it's just more of like a pile on. Literally, all anyone in the comments can do is point out the influencer accent feature she has. Even though in the video she quite literally says, "I might have an influencer accent. I probably do. " If a bunch of women on the internet are talking in a specific way, it is very likely that like I, a woman who spends a lot of time on the internet, will also start talking that way. and soon enough we will all start talking that way. That is how language change works. — And here's the greatest point of all and why I chose this example. Being accused of having the influencer accent is in itself a gotcha. It doesn't matter what you're saying. Speaking in this specific way alone is proof that you are a dumb vapid woman. And literally everyone will disregard what you're saying even if you explain yourself 20 times over. Overall, the responses are so revealing. Just by mentioning influencer accent, people assume you're going to roast it. The thing that I find interesting though is that everyone assumed that I was being insulting and all of the comments sort of have this tone of like I hate to break it to you, but you also talk like this. If I talk like that, it's fine. It is like a morally and intellectually neutral thing to have an accent of any kind. And like at no point in my original video did I say like people are talking like this and I hate that and it's annoying and it's bad. I was not denigrating at all. I was speaking in the most neutral way I could about like what this feature is and who seems to have it and where I'm seeing it. — You mentioned the influencer accent. People are prepared to mock it. And that goes to show that most people do see this accent or similar speech patterns as inherently bad. And that brings us to we just hate how women talk. I'm sure you like this whole video have been like it's because of misogyny. I know. We're going to get into that now. Okay. So again, when people talk about the influencer accent or even like the valley girl accent and you try to dig into why they dislike it, why do they hate it so much, people will say it's just annoying, it's just obnoxious, you sound less intelligent, it's just an objective fact. And in a second, I'm going to get into the Valley Girl accent, but I think it's important to tie these two together because the critiques of the lifestyle influencer accent are very similar, right? Which makes sense because they share a lot of um attributes. But first, I want to tap into why do women use vocal fry? For example, Clarissa Wei writes, "Young women tend to be more prone to vocal fry because quote, "It conveys a sense of nonchalants or detachment in contrast to stereotypes of girls being bubbly and overly enthusiastic. However, many people with vocal fry aren't even aware they have it until other people point it out. So, I don't think it's a conscious decision most of the time. One of my other theories, especially when it comes to vocal fry on social media, is that people tend to speak more quietly when they record a video. I'm talking pretty loudly because again, I do this all the time. I know that I have to project a little bit, but the average person, they're not going to be like yelling at their phone at this volume. And if you talk quietly, you're going to have a little more vocal fry. Next, why do women use upspeak or uptalk? Because women are so used to being interrupted. Some say upspeak helps to signal that you're not done talking. You can't cut me off if I'm not done yet. Others argue that uptalk just sounds like you're unsure or you're not really committed to what you're saying, like you're questioning yourself. — I think my drive and enthusiasm would be a great attribute for the company. — I'm really good at dealing with people. — So there are disagreements about like the origin and the actual purposes of vocal fry and upspeak for example. — So caky voice actually has a linguistic function in some languages. So we could take the same syllable yah which with that tone means tree. But if I do it with breathy voice Yeah. it means he carries. And if I do it with caky voice Yeah. it means he wears. Same syllable. — But finally let's introduce the valley girl. Now I'm from Southern California. So the valley girl is like totally normal for me for sure. I unironically love it. A little background on this. Frank Zappa put out the song Valley Girl in 1982, which was essentially a parody making fun of this specific type of teen girl from the Valley, meaning the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. Then the Valley Girl movie came out in 1983, starring Nick Cage, like Gag Me with a Spoon. So these two pieces of media really solidified and mainstreamed the Valley Girl character, the accent, the mannerisms. Weey writes, "The Valley Girl has become synonymous with a stereotype of deeply annoying airheads

### Segment 7 (30:00 - 35:00) [30:00]

from Southern California. The Valley Girl says like too much, like whatever. Totally. She's materialistic. She's shopping at the mall. " And similar to stereotypes about the lifestyle influencers, the popular concept is they must be largely rich, white, vapid girls and women. Now, whether one is actually from LA or not, Valley Girl is thrown around as an insult. girls and women with this sort of accent are mocked all the time. For example, Weey was featured in a TV show sharing Chinese food from the valley. And unsurprisingly, when the episode went up, many responses were focused on her apparently shocking accent. Weii wrote, "The snark delighted and attracted other commenters like moths to a flame, who began to lampoon me for using upspeak, my liberal use of filler words, and for my strong vocal fry. Their snide remarks left me scarlet with shame. " And on top of this, there's the whole issue that people of color face often, which is being accused of trying to sound white, even if you're just speaking in your natural voice. Why do you talk like a cringe valley girl when you're clearly black? Dot dot dot. Dude, so I've gotten several comments like this about how I sound like a white girl. The [ __ ] Like, okay, first of all, like, this is just how I talk. The way people speak varies based on their geographic location, their cultural backgrounds, and their social environment. Skin color does not inherently influence the sound of one's voice. I hope this helps. Now, quick question. How many of us have been judged or insulted for our speaking voice? And especially if you're a woman posting online, that number is probably 100%. — I got a comment the other day. — I get a lot of comments like this. — Someone saying that I have really bad vocal fry. Every time I post a video that gets more than 500 views, somebody comments on it — saying that I have bad vocal fry. — I get variations of this comment. — Every now and then I get comments on my voice. — All the [ __ ] time. People are going to comment on my voice and it's just something that I've learned to accept. — I spent the better half of my morning crying after reading these two reviews on my podcast. — Oh my gosh, that vocal fry. Oh my gosh, her voice is like nail on chalkboard. — We are well aware that our voices impact how we're perceived. So many women force themselves to speak in different voices. And by the way, this is an issue for cis and trans women alike. Of course, the exact circumstances and stakes of having the right voice are different, but there is a shared struggle in all of us trying to find our perfect woman voice. Many of us put on our customer service voice or our nice girl voice in all interactions. And especially if you have a lower voice naturally, you're going to need to fix that because you cannot sound bored or monotone or, god forbid, rude. just at the coffee shop and I ordered something and then she's like, "Oh, is that it? " And I was like, "No. " And she was like, "Oh. " And like seemed kind of like taken aback. I said no. With my such a low tone that I think she like thought I was being rude or maybe just felt like h like the customer's mad at me or something. And so I intentionally tried to like soften it cuz I'm like I never want to be rude or make someone feel bad. So I'm like, "Oh, thank you so much. " or whatever. But my voice doesn't naturally sound like this and I really hate talking like this. My voice sounds like this and I'm like, "Hey, can I please have a coffee? Thank you. " So, you're going to need to change your voice, right? But be careful because if you sound too peppy, too bubbly, too girly, especially with any trace of vocal fry or uptalk, people will think you're dumb. No one will respect you in the workplace if you sound like such a valley girl. So, you should have a soft, feminine voice, but not too soft. Speak up. But still, don't be overly assertive because you'll seem manly or [ __ ] And not to reiterate the Barbie monologue, but it is truly impossible to strike the balance. What the hell should a woman sound like then? You know what do you want from us? The wild thing is the so-called valley girl accent is not limited to LA, California, or even the US. Weii writes, "In a globalized world where languages and accents are instantaneously broadcast and absorbed, how particular is the Valley Girl accent to the actual San Fernando Valley or even to girls? Many of its signature features, the creaky voice, the upward inflection, and the liberal usage of like whatever, totally, can be found elsewhere in the world, predate the8s, and aren't exclusive to women. So, what is going on? This is linguistic misogyny. — Okay. Room for cream. — Totally leave Why are you talking like that? — Because this is my voice. — I want to show some examples because I've come across a lot of people making that point that vocal fry and uptalk are actually quite common in male speech as well. — I'm responsible for my um my actions. — It's really important that we look forward to what we have uh ahead of us. — I was taught that creaky voice was that thing used by RPeing men. — Everyone runs from Shia Khan Khan. Oldfashioned term foul play. — I've had to say a good deal about prayer. the whole idea of prayer.

### Segment 8 (35:00 - 40:00) [35:00]

— And as many people have pointed out, there's an obvious double standard here. — One thing it's hard not to notice is that most of the time when people are complaining about vocal fry and uptalk, they're complaining about women's voices and especially young women. — Women are mocked for these vocal features. They're told they need to change their voices or they'll never be taken seriously. Whereas men can be respected, listened to, and even have some of the most famous beloved voices with those same features. — Okay, this is um Ira Glass audition for announcer of The Late Show with Steven Coar. — It tells me what's right and what's not, when to leave, and where to go. — You might be thinking, "Yeah, well, here's the thing. Vocal fry and uptalk just sound more annoying in higher pitched voices. " Sorry, it's the truth. Um, you need to unpack that because — do you have different associations when you hear it from a male voice for score and 7 years ago than when you hear it from a female voice? — Four score and seven years ago. — And again, this does not only come from men, though men do love to comment on women's voices. This comes from other women as well who either have internalized all of this and have decided, I'm going to be a little of a vocal pick me. I'm going to sound like whatever society wants. And so they attack other girls and women for not assimilating. Coming back to again the lifestyle influencer accent, even just the idea that we call these creators influencers. And because influencer is female coded, we automatically consider it to be a more superficial job title. Whereas men on social media are labeled content creators or just podcasters, filmmakers even. Right? So again, when we're talking about hating the influencer accent, we are always talking about that influencer accent. We're talking about that type of woman. We're talking about again the idea of a superficial, materialistic, annoying, vapid woman. So we're going to make fun of the lifestyle girly accent, but we're not going to roast Mr. Beast for his or any of the other wannabe male creators or like the Paul brothers who are screaming at cameras. Are they not incredibly annoying and grading nails on a chalkboard as well? Not to say that the answer to this is to make fun of more people. Just egalitarian hatred, please. But really, guys, you're telling me that you'd rather hear get ready with me today. We're going to Sephora. We're going to check out a new makeup brand. You're telling me like that would be preferable. Cuz if it is, we can change. We will be sponges. We will evolve. And side note, also one little thing. I'm so tired of men making fun of women's voices. Okay, you know what? I actually do think it's acceptable when we do it. When I see those parodies of girlies doing the influencer accent, I find it entertaining. I think it's a fun impression. But when men do it, shut your mouth. You have no idea. Even if you're right, okay? I don't want to hear you mocking women's voices. There's this specific creator who uh usually calls out like very insensitive, like cultry insensitive creators or just like very entitled influencers, which again people love because we hate influencers. — Oh my god, you guys. I just missed my first class flight and I'm literally shaking. — So, I get that and I appreciate that content. Sure, that's entertaining. A lot of these people do deserve to be called out, but making fun of their voices don't love it so much. Lastly, loved this TikTok from this man Dexter. — And instead of women having to change how they speak so misogynist will be more likely to respect them, I think that maybe the misogynist should like [ __ ] get over it or at least be called out more often. So, if vocal fry still bugs you, that's my advice. Simply get over it. spot on. Hey, move on with your life. Incredible advice for so many internet issues. And this brings me to my final thoughts. I've been teetering through this interesting conflict within this video where it's like, is language changing or is everyone adopting this accent a good or bad thing? And I think it's important to note that like language change should be morally neutral because again, it is so natural and inevitable that languages change, dialects evolve, accents change over time. We naturally are sponges. We soak up the people and the world around us. And again, we live in a more globalized society. We are all receiving information and bits of culture hopefully from pretty diverse places. And so, it makes sense that we would all be impacted little by all of this media. I think there are definitely people typically like older people who believe that when languages or accents change, it's inherently worsening or ruining that thing. You're ruining the English language. you're ruining this regional accent. Or for example, AAVE or other developing dialects, especially when they're newer, they're seen as a failure to assimilate or as devolving the language when in fact they are developing that have their own rules and they are entirely like real and valid. It's so interesting because so often these dialects or accents or slang are framed in a negative way initially and then as they become more mainstream or widespread, they become socially accepted and normalized and even

### Segment 9 (40:00 - 43:00) [40:00]

appropriated by the people who ridiculed them in the first place. So again, as easy as it might seem initially when we talk about the lifestyle influencer accent, for example, to say that it's a bad thing, it's embarrassing, it's a terrible way to speak, it's annoying, I think that's a very ignorant and short-sighted take. It can personally bother your ears. All right, sure. I guess we all have things that bother us. But again, I think it's important to dig into our reactions to certain things and think, why does this bother me so much? Is it truly like misophonia? I don't know. Maybe there are certain sounds or pitches that you're a little more sensitive to. That's valid. But again, digging in being like, maybe there is some internalized misogyny or misogyny in here. Maybe there are other prejudices that this is bringing out that I'm maybe not even conscious of. Maybe we should sit with that a little longer, you know? And going back to my example with Eleanor, by the way, I actually did a Zoom call with her last week to just chat about some of this and it was really lovely. I'm always looking for more opportunities to chat with the creators I enjoy. I get to have a little fang girl moment and like pick their brain on whatever topic. So, thank you Eleanor for speaking with me. But another interesting point that she made was the question of whether we can have neutral discussions about language. Why does language change have to sound like an inherently negative thing? Again, you bring up a change, you're hearing this feature or that, and people automatically assume that is a negative problem rather than just a neutral change, a feature that is popping up or popularizing or declining. Can't we just have neutral conversations about language? Cuz language is very cool. Another obstacle I kind of stumbled into throughout this video was the idea of consciously changing our speech. So, for example, some people go to speech or vocal coaches. Let's say they have a valley girl accent. They have really strong vocal fry and they want to stop talking like that because maybe at work they've been told they're unprofessional. Or they record podcasts, they're a journalist and viewers say they can't stand to listen to them. So people feel compelled, especially in a professional sense, to change this. And it's hard because like I think people should have autonomy to do whatever they want. If you feel like you need or want to change your voice or your accent, maybe you want to go to a speech coach to feel more confident in public speaking. I'm not going to stop you. But it also really does make me sad to imagine people kind of washing away their own accent. I don't know. I know not everyone loves the accent that they grew up with. Some people are embarrassed of it. I personally enjoy mine. I'm probably losing it cuz I've lived away from California for so many years now. But it like warmed my heart to see so many clips of girls and women saying that they love their LA Valley girl accent. I'm from the valley in LA. Stereotype about valley girls is that we all talk like this and say, "Oh my god. " Yeah. Like literally. And I kind of do and that's okay. I love the sound of my voice. Come with the realization that I kind of love vocal fry to be honest. I think my Valley Girl robot voice is sexy and I enjoy listening to it and I'm not going to change my voice. Like I literally am going to make it more annoying on purpose. I want people to feel more empowered and confident holding on to their own accent or dialects. I want us to be able to break down these ideas that only certain accents or voices are professional and respectable cuz it's [ __ ] Thank you so much for watching and thanks again to Dropbox for sponsoring today's episode. You can click the link in the description to check out Dropbox. Now I'm noticing all the uptalk. Please check out my second channel for some more casual commentary. I will be making new episodes there soon. And please, if you haven't seen it yet, check out my last video which was about performative hygiene, the hygiene Olympics. And I hope you've had fun listening today. Now, I am going to speak in a different voice because I want to stay tuned for more video content from me, Tiffany Ferg. Okay, thanks. Bye.