As it is National Women’s History Month, in March we reflect on the contributions of prominent women in history. Additionally, it is important to reflect on the contributions of all women in society today. Something that women, specifically young women, contribute to society daily is sociolinguistic change. Young women are the force behind sociolinguistic change. Linguist Gretchen McCulloch describes young women as “language disrupters,” as they drive the change of current language. Additionally, according to McCulloch, women are responsible for 90 percent of linguistic changes today.
For a demographic that has such an integral part in the evolution of language, young women are criticized a lot for their language use. Some of the speech characteristics in modern language that women are criticized for include use of the word “like,” in addition to vocal fry (which describes when a speaker’s voice sounds creaky and low-pitched). The dismissal of certain speech characteristics in modern language has less to do with the speech itself and more to do with who is speaking it. The reason that the use of certain speech characteristics such as vocal fry and the word “like” are criticized is because it is women who are more likely than men to exhibit these characteristics today. According to McCulloch, this contributes to the reason that men don’t have the title of leaders in linguistic change; they criticize women for their language innovation, and that it takes them about a generation to catch up.
Disdain for speech qualities such as vocal fry and up-talk stem from an ingrained disdain for women. Advice to not use these characteristics can be disguised as a well-meaning encouragement to a speaker to sound more professional and confident. However, because women are more likely than men to be on the receiving end of this “advice,” we must examine why this advice is needed in the first place. In my own life, I have been told to not use “like,” to not up-talk, and not slip into vocal fry. It is extremely frustrating, as it makes me feel like what I’m saying is not as important as the way it sounds. I used to try to fix this, like by using the word “about” instead of “like.” Now, I refuse to reject my ‘feminine’ speech or make the conscious effort to not use “like” or uptalk. I realize now I wasn’t criticized for my speech, but rather for my gender while using that speech.
As I grow older and as I become more confident in the way that I speak, I am also able to let loose and lean into being a driver force of sociolinguistic change as a young woman. My best friends and I are no exception to this phenomenon. One of my best friends and I are constantly speaking our conlang, or contrived language, that we created several years ago. My friend group also has a running list of our isms, to which we add a new ism about once a week. Seeing the way I speak to my different friends may not create a large-scale language for society and language as a whole, but I am proud to be able to identify with young women as a whole because of this characteristic.