I heard from several readers after my blog about vocal fry. This response, from Eva in Portland, is a great rant–and, of course, I feel the same way. Anti-vocal-fry enthusiasts, take heart! Our numbers are growing!
From Eva in Portland:
Thank you for your blog about Vocal Fry. I found it via another one I visit from time to time about this very topic:
http://squibbage.blogspot.com/2009/07/creaky-voice-craze.html
Mostly I’m writing to vent to a like-minded individual. You’re certainly not alone as evidenced by all the blogs online decrying this horrible malady. But, alas, we’re in the minority: no amount of justified outrage or desperate persuasion is going to change the fact that vocal fry is the new norm. As much as I agree with you that “the Vocal Fry has to go,” I’m afraid you’re optimistic–the sad truth is that the only place the vocal fry is headed is forward.
This thing drives me absolutely insane. For me, it’s worse than nails on a chalkboard. Plus, it’s everywhere–you cannot get away from it! It’s like a relentless assault that can’t be blocked out. The entire world is like a minefield. I’m safe in my car (as long as I don’t turn on the radio), but as soon as I step outside, I know it’s just a matter of time: walking down the street, going into a coffee shop, calling customer service, working at my job–it makes me tense because I know it’s coming, and it can happen any time. When it does, it gives me this awful, panicky feeling of wanting to jump out of my skin.
I have read everything I can get my eyeballs on about this thing, and at this point I consider myself a reluctant expert on its various manifestations (there are actually many, many variations of it.) I was actually thinking of starting my own blog or writing a book–but how can I interview fryers without insulting them? I even contacted a local voice institute to talk about it with someone there, but never got a call back. I read the study done last year at LIU about vocal fry (the one that caused all the media buzz for a few weeks), and I corresponded with one of the researchers to get clarification on some of the points (for some reason, she was convinced that vocal fry does not happen on NPR, which I found astonishing.) In fact, I wrote a long and heart-felt letter to NPR, pleading with them to do corrective training with their reporters (99% of their female reporters are creakers), but they obviously don’t think it’s a problem, even though the station did two segments about it–go figure! I corresponded with another blogger ) on how awful vocal fry is on radio stations. He suggested I write a letter to the local paper, but at this point, I don’t see the point.
And that’s about it. There is no remedy, there is no solution. The only therapy we have against it is to vent to kindred spirits, just to release the pressure. It’s like some horrible air-borne virus. Once it starts, it’s going to win, and nothing we can do is going to stop it. All we can do–those of us who can’t stand it–is to look at one another and repeat, like Marlon Brando, “the horror, the horror.”
Thank you for your blog–it’s a small comfort in the face of the relentless juggernaut of creakdom.
P.S. Here are two perfect examples of this irritating affectation; take a moment and have a listen, but be prepared to jam your fingers into your ears to keep from bursting a blood vessel:
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