Destiny Davila

English IV

Ms. O’Keefe

January 23, 2018

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16kheVkM16_ZNjaL0pqfZvzEOIPBmV82I/view

The Damage behind “Shrill”

Have you ever used a word and turned it into your own kind of language? It’s

kind of like when you use a certain word out of its original meaning and turn it into

something it’s not​.​ When people do this, that word spreads out into the media which

then has a new meaning and is used to offend people rather than mean what it was

intended to mean​.​ Nowadays​,​ words are not used the same as I would expect. Certain

words are basically being taken out of context and being sugar coated with your own

twist towards the actual definition​.​ Usually, people don’t realize this everyday and how it

affects others, but there are people who tend to use certain words in a negative way

which goes towards a specific audience or group of people​ ​purposely​.

One word that people have turned around into their own kind of meaning is the

word “Shrill​.”​ When I hear this word, it makes me think of a type of seafood such as a

kind of fish​.​ Originally, the literal definition of Shrill is a high pitched sound closely being
related to a shrieking noise​.​ Some examples of a shrill sound would be something like a

siren​,​ whistle, smoke detector, and so many others​.​ It’s not meant to be a word used to

offend others​.​ It is simply a word to describe a very high pitched noise which mostly has

to do with objects​.​ It’s usually said to be an unpleasant sound, such as the sound of

chalk scraping the board​,​ which can make you want to cover your ears because of how

sharp the sound can be​.

The connotative meaning of “Shrill” refers to women and their voices such as

being loud or shouting​.​ That is how it has changed meaning over time. It is now used to

describe the way women speak and only goes to attack women but not men​.​ Why?

Because men don’t have the kind of voice women have​.​ A man’s voice tends to be

much deeper than a woman’s voice which is why people use the word shrill against

women​.​ Men think that women shouldn’t be speaking out because a woman's voice

tends to be more soft​,​ as if they cannot stand up for anything. Otherwise​,​ women are

called out for being too loud and their voices are said to be “annoying​.​” This would be

an example of sexism because the target only goes towards one gender and that is only

towards females​.​ According to an article it states, “For historical and social reasons​,​ the

unmarked or default voice of authority is a male voice; criticism of female politicians​’

voices is essentially a way of tapping into the still-widely held belief that women do not

have the authority to lead​.​” Males are the ones who are criticizing a woman​’​s voice

when it comes to certain situations such as giving a speech​.​ That’s because males feel
as if females’ voices are not meant to lead others and that they can’t be a leader since

it’s more of a man’s job​,​ although that is not true​.

One female in particular that has been bashed with the word “Shrill” is Hillary

Clinton​.​ While the election was going on, she was accused by many people, preferably

males​,​ that she is very “shrill” when she speaks. Most people (males), find that her

voice is very unpleasant to listen to because she shouts and raises her voice​.​ According

to another article it stated​,​ “I estimate that the media is 2.17 times more likely to

describe a woman or a girl as “screeching” (or a related form of the word) than a man​.​ A

woman or girl is also 3.14 times more likely to be described as “shrieking​”​ (or a related

form of the word)​, ​and she’s 2.3 times more likely to be described as “shrill”... ​Criticisms

of Clinton as “screeching”, “shrieking”, or “shrill” are not merely criticisms of her voice​;

they’re implicit statements about what the voice of a leader sounds like​,​ and, looking at

media discourse, we can see that that voice is masculine​.​”​ Females have always had a

higher pitched voice than men and they are never mentioned in the media​.​ When we

view media, it is more made up of males speaking which is why males believe that

females should be using their inner voices​.​ The media is made up of a more masculine

voice and hearing a feminine voice makes it uncomfortable for some people​.​ But that is

seen to be very sexist as it is never seen to be described towards male voices​.​ When

Hillary is being described by this kind of word, it is being used in a very negative way to
describe her just because she is a female giving speeches to the world​.​ That’s where

it’s not right because people have twisted the meaning to “Shrill​.​” People are using the

word shrill to purposely offend women on television mostly having to do with politics​.​ It

isn’t fair to women, although being called shrill won’t stop them.

In my opinion​,​ when it comes to the word Shrill, I honestly very much disagree

with it​.​ Being a female, I find it to be very offensive if someone were to say that to me

because it is a word to purposely offend females only​.​ That doesn’t make it right

because females​,​ although are voices are more higher toned, can make good leaders.

The tone of our voice has nothing to do with how we lead and speak out for others as

well as ourselves​.​ I also don’t think it’s fair how it’s only used towards women and not

men because I feel that both voices should be equally heard​.​ One voice shouldn’t have

more authority than the other​.​ A feminine voice can have just as much control as a

masculine voice​.​ There shouldn’t be anything in between, we should all be able to

speak up no matter how different our voices might be​.​ In another article it states,

“​Researchers concluded that women’s voices were equal to men’s voices in terms of

loudness​,​ but considerably less intelligible​…​ ​Were women’s voices deemed less

intelligible because some men — and women — weren’t ​listening ​to female voices as

attentively as they could?​”​ I feel like if there were more feminine voices being mentioned

in the media as well as more speeches from females speaking​,​ people would be more

comfortable with hearing another voice​.

 Overall​,​ the word “Shrill” has changed over time from the literal meaning of a

simply being a loud high-pitched noise​,​ to now being a word to describe the voices of

females​.​ Also it’s a word that describes the voice of a female as loud, unpleasant, or

annoying​.​ It is only intended for females and the way people use it towards women is

very offensive as it calls for women as not very controlling as men​.​ Women is the overall

target for being called shrill and it isn’t fair to them because it’s as if they are being

compared to children voices​.​ Shrill is a word that can make a female feel that she is

weak and has less power than a male​.​ Men wouldn’t understand how this word would

impact women and how sexist it really is​.​ I think we should remove “shrill” and only use

it towards its literal meaning rather than using it for another meaning which disrespects

women as well as their abilities​.

Sources:

● https://debuk.wordpress.com/2016/03/12/the-taming-of-the-shrill/
debuk, ~. “The taming of the shrill.” ​Language: a feminist guide​, 15 Apr. 2016,
debuk.wordpress.com/2016/03/12/the-taming-of-the-shrill/.

● https://linguisticpulse.com/2016/02/08/bashing-hillary-clintons-voice-screeching-s
hrieking-and-shrill/
By. “Bashing Hillary Clinton's voice: "Screeching", "shrieking", and "shrill".” ​Linguistic pulse​, 8
Feb. 2016,
linguisticpulse.com/2016/02/08/bashing-hillary-clintons-voice-screeching-shrieking-and-shrill/.

● http://time.com/4268325/history-calling-women-shrill/
“The Long, Sexist History of 'Shrill' Women.” ​Time​, Time,
time.com/4268325/history-calling-women-shrill/.