obama, clinton, and voice
Music: Some bland country-rock shit at the airport.
I'm traveling today and killing time by blogging. Right now I'm way too early at the Austin airport watching a woman parade her baby back and forth (congratulations, Mumsie, even though the air pressure is going to turn your infant into a Scream Machine for our enjoyment in about an hour). I'm heading to Phoenix to participate in a symposium on Roy Orbison's career and music and have a chat with my friends at Arizona State University. What's great about this trip is that I'm going on my own freewill and accord; I don't have to "work" a conference, nor do I feel the weight of representation. I haven't traveled for "fun" in some time.
Obama, of course, does feel the weight of representation, and while the campaigning must be exciting, I doubt any candidate would describe it as "fun." So far I've blogged about the republican candidates, religion, and the rhetoric of consistency, but I've failed to discuss the democratic candidates. This week's debate in South Carolina was interesting because of class and race issues that were raised and the somewhat nasty exchanges between Clinton and Obama.
What strikes me as rhetorically significant are Obama and Clinton's voices. Everyone is discussing what is getting said, but no one has mentioned how it is said. By "voice" I don't mean claims to representation, but rather the tone and timbre of their voices as such. Obama's voice is velvety, smooth, and pleasant to listen to. Clinton's voice is . . . well, it's not pleasant. Clinton sounds like the Wicked Witch of the West: "I'll get you and your little dog too," she seems to sound, and in a tone not far off from a morning clock alarm.
Does the sound of each candidates' voice have an effect? I think so. I think the tone and timbre of candidates' voices commands an unconscious emotional response. If Clinton's voice was less witchy, I wonder if she would invite a less divided response from voters? If Obama's voice was higher-pitched, I wonder if he would create more division? Obama has been likened, over and over, to a preacher and lately he has certainly been playing to that characterization. Clinton has been characterized as a terrier dog, yet strangely more air time seems to be given to her husband's stumping.
Of course, there's some obvious gender bias in the privileging of voices, one that no doubt is rooted in my observations, but also one that is more widespread in our culture: male voices tend to receive a more positive response than female voices. My books are not handy, but I recall reading that a number of studies on the affective response of individuals have been done for computer voice recognition technologies. BMW discovered, for example, that drivers protested the original female voice they utilized for the computer interface in one of their models. Of course, German male attitudes toward women are different than, say, American male attitudes, but the consensus among a number of researchers nonetheless is that male voices tend to create more positive feelings than female voices. This is more likely a cultural construction than anything else, I think (after all, the voice we first reckon with as infants is that of mama, the soothing voice of sustenance). Nevertheless, owing to gender bias I think Hillary's rhetoric is disadvantaged because it is female, and this is compounded because it is a castrating voice.
Well, I'm not sure what to make of these observations except that I'm making observations. Perhaps they will cohere around something, become more coherent the more I reflect?
Speaking of voices, the asshole next to me in the airport has a high-pitched voice that carries: "for the odd column, I'm going to take resister two. It's basically. . . you don't want that. Pixelation is completely different. That's a function of . .. well, what flicker is. Hmm. Lemme show you, lemme show you how this is done." Is there any reason to talk so loud? Umm, no. But I understand you are important, sir. I've noticed your flashy jewelry too.
Looks like they're boarding the plane. Perhaps I'll blog more on the road.