I’m yet to fully get into Love Is Blind, the Netflix dating show making global waves. It’s essentially Married At First Sight, except everyone is super hot.
Basically, people go into pods to talk to “date” other contestants. So they can hear each other, but not see each other. Eventually someone proposes to whoever they want to marry, and THEN they get to see each other. Wild, right?
But the reason my interest suddenly piqued was because of an online conversation that stirred up this week about contestant Jessica and her changing voice. See, viewers have noticed that when talking to-camera, Jessica’s voice is medium-pitch. But when she’s in a pod talking to a guy, it switches to a widdle sexy baby voice. YES, REALLY. WATCH.
the baby voice jessica from love is blind puts on when shes talking to men is fucking freaky like wtf pic.twitter.com/rbPm9Q97Cv
— hailey (@shmailey_) February 17, 2020
JESSICA ONE UPPING HERSELF WITH THE MID SENTENCE VOICE SWITCH….WHEWWW-E pic.twitter.com/uAo3j0GIOn
— hailey (@shmailey_) February 21, 2020
That one ^^^ where she does it mid-way through a conversation? Blew me away.
No one’s handling it.
Who watches Love is Blind on Netflix and can explain to me Jessica adopts an irritating baby voice when she’s talking to men. The difference between the baby voice and her real voice is so much. Does she intend to fake that voice forever? What is even the purpose of it? I mean pic.twitter.com/a1p0tZ5grT
— Uduaqué (@uduaque) February 20, 2020
My favourite thing about love is blind is when Jessica talking in a normal voice to the camera and then it switches to a clip of her talking in a baby voice to the men
Oh sweetie what the fuck
— m (@mairvad) February 25, 2020
Whenever Jessica from LOVE IS BLIND switches voices pic.twitter.com/SKdJK5rWHq
— Shaker Samman (@ShakerSamman) February 27, 2020
Naturally, plenty of thinkpieces have also spawned from Jessica’s bizarre dual-voice. Most interestingly, The Guardian attributes sexy baby voice to a society steeped in patriarchy.
“Often, extremely bright women have huge difficulty using their voice. They are terrified to use the full force of it. I’ve rarely encountered a man with that same problem,” sociologist Anne Karpf told The Guardian.
She feels it’s sexist for us to criticise Jessica for using this baby voice, because it’s so extremely connected to women’s need to placate the male ego. But… is Jessica placating egos to protect herself here? Or playing directly – and knowingly – into a sexist stereotype of the mincing, passive female to be attractive to men?
Ugh, I don’t know. This shit eternally exhausts me. I don’t think we CAN know without being in Jessica’s brain and knowing her motives, whether she’s switching voices intentionally or subconsciously. And even then – can we judge her?
