Vocal fry is a layman’s term for “creaky voice,” a process where the arytenoid cartilages (the little things that move your vocal folds around) push together to make the vocal folds loose while they vibrate. It’s like a continuous version of a glottal stop (a glottal stop is the sound you make before the u and o in “uh oh”).
There are lots and lots of videos and articles decrying this phenomenon. Here are just a few examples:
The Buzz (this one will come back later)
Notice the words like “creeping” and “epidemic.” Obviously these are not neutral articles. They’re treating something we do with our larynx like it’s some kind of cult or disease!
Oh, this is that thing Zooey Deschanel does! Ugh, I hate that.
Nope, not that thing. As far as I can tell, Zooey Deschanel keeps a space empty in the back of her mouth, giving her voice a different quality. It’s not creaky voice. Don’t get me wrong, she also does creaky voice, but she does it about the same amount as anybody else.
Okay, okay, now we know what it is. But it’s still bad for your voice.
No, no it’s not. In fact, in more than 60 years of research on features like creaky voice, no evidence has been found to suggest that it is in any way damaging to your vocal folds, larynx, or any other part of your body.
Creaky voice can be a symptom of other damage, but only if you have no way to speak without it. If you are capable of making sounds that aren’t creaky, your vocal tract is not damaged.
Fine, it doesn’t hurt you. But young girls are using it too much because of the media!
Whoops, nope. Look back at that video from “The Buzz.” The male host attributes this feature to Ke$ha and the Kardashians. But listen to the host, I mean reeeeally listen. The ends of many of his sentences contain creaky voice, too! The female hosts, even as they are criticizing vocal fry, are producing it (and not just in their mock vocal fry speech). Do you think that middle aged guy was speaking with 0% creaky voice until “Tik Tok” came out? Because I sure don’t.
Want some more evidence that people of all ages and genders use this feature? Take a look at Language Log. There are old people using it all over that article.
Sure, studies so far are counting instances of creaky voice mainly in women (although watch out — the research questions usually start from a point of assuming young > old and women > men). We’ll talk about why that might be in the next section.
Fine, it’s not just for girls. But it’s definitely useless and stupid.
You may know where I’m going with this by now. Here are some reasons why creaky voice is neither useless nor stupid:
- Creaky voice typically happens in the last syllable or two of an utterance, especially the last utterance in a string. If you think about it, that’s a pretty useful conversational tool. You want the people you’re talking to to know that you’re done and they are welcome to chime in.
- It lowers your pitch (specifically, your F0) when you talk without your having to put on a crazy pantomime “big boy” voice. Some think this might be a technique many women use in the work world to be taken more seriously. Lower pitch = more masculine = more impressive. The research isn’t quite in on this, but it’s possible.
- Some languages use creaky voice as its own sound type, which means using or not using creaky voice on certain words can change their meaning.
Every generation of young females has to contend with this. Back in the eighties, we were advised by well-meaning (usually middle-aged, white, male) adults not to use uptalk or “valley girl” vowels. Now, we still have uptalk (oh god, a whole other post could be devoted to this), but we also have creaky voice, pejoratively termed “vocal fry.” Creaky voice is a critically important feature of mainstream American English speech. It doesn’t wreck our voices. People of all genders do it. People who were born before 1960 do it. People who don’t watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians do it.
Maybe you think creaky voice sounds annoying. That’s your right. But maybe think twice before you assume it’s only for young, vapid, media-obsessed girls.
Maybe the answer is to spend a little bit less time telling young women how to speak and a little bit more time thinking about what we have to say.
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