Women Are Changing Their Voices Because of the Kardashians

There's a trend going on with the way women speak and some blame celebs like the Kardashians. 

Scientists have found fans are adopting a croaky drawl known as "vocal fry", copying stars like Katy Perry and the Kardashian family.

The phenomenon may be down to women thinking that lower voices make them seem more masculine - allowing them to compete with men in the workplace.

Also known as creaky voice, it involves elongating certain syllables so that they vibrate at the back of the throat.

The experiment by researchers at Louisiana State University found that 86 per cent students had vocal fry when asked to repeat a list of made-up words.

"Our suggest that even when words have no meaning, young female speakers will seek to mark the end of an utterance or add emphasis with vocal fry" said researcher Todd Gibson

Many believe the vocal quirk carries negative connotations.

One study found that women with the speech pattern sound less competent and less employable.

Writing in the Guardian last year, feminist author Naomi Wolf said: ‘”Vocal fry” is that guttural growl at the back of the throat, as a Valley girl might sound if she had been shouting herself hoarse at a rave all night.

‘The less charitable refer to it privately as painfully nasal, and to young women in conversation sounding like ducks quacking.’