What Exactly Is the ‘Vocal Fry’ Trend?

By Kylie

Vocal Fry.

If it’s not the latest and greatest snacking invention released by McDonald’s then I’m not really sure what to make of this trend.

But apparently “vocal fry” (aka ‘creaky voice’)  “refers to the low, guttural vibrations that sometimes occur in speech, often appearing at the end of sentences” and is apparently taking our favorite celebrities by the horns. Know how B. Spears gets all dark and dirty when she moans “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…” at the beginning of her hit ‘Oops.. I Did It Again”? Like the hit maker and one of the original pioneers of pop that she is, Brit-Brit might be at the forefront of this creaky trend.

Which means that all the time I spent last summer locked in my room staring at my mirror and cupping my vocal cords trying to make my voice sound raspier was for nothing. Ugh. 

Stars like Zooey Deschanel and Kim Kardashian are catching on too, ditching their ditzy, soprano-esque, damsel-in-permanent-distress tones for a deeper, more masculine tone. And researchers suspect that it is an increasing trend found among women our age and older. For whatever reason, linguists even suggest that women partaking in this latest fad are either hoping to establish themselves in front of male counterparts or just sound more sultry and sexy.

So we’re wondering what all the rest of us ladies think about the “vocal fry” trend: are we actually making a conscious effort to drop our speech? For those of us that are ditching your natural pitch, why are you doing it?

Are creaky voices headed toward becoming the next big  fad… or are they just plain bad?