The Science Behind Hating Hillary's Voice

Commentators often criticize Hillary Clinton for having a loud, monotone, and shrill voice. In this video, The Atlantic’s Olga Khazan talks to voice experts to understand what makes Clinton’s voice allegedly more annoying than her competitors. The conclusions are complex: Clinton’s voice is actually average in pitch and loudness for her age and gender, but she does yell into microphones and speak in an overly enunciated voice—two factors that may make her seem abrasive. And then, of course, there’s another element at play: sexism.

Authors: Daniel Lombroso, Olga Khazan

[carolcheny]

Please. Stop with the woman card. It's not helping. It's not just her voice, it's her lack of sincerity. People can pick up the vibe.

[wayd]

It doesn't matter what her voice sounds like. Her actions tell us plenty.

[marilynphan]

I don't hate Hillary's voice, I hate her.

[weltgeist]

She can change her voice but not her psychology.

[brandonflorida]

Personally, I just hate her policies. I always attributed the fact that her voice is so irritating to her just being a bad person.

[philipschuster]

It's not Hillary's "tone" or volume. She just sounds phony. Bernie sounds unpolished and grumpy, but he sounds real. Trump sounds like a demagogue - an act that usually works quite well.

[jasonlarsen]

Not just her voice but it’s what she says people hate.

[juantho]

lmfao. "Her voice is so polished it works against her" too dumb by half. Polished = Fake. That's why people hate her voice and are forgiving of Bernie's. His voice isn't fake at all. Olga's voice wasn't fake and so it was perfectly fine.

[cybermasterdza]

I'm late to the game here, but for me she's just trying to sound tough... and failing miserably.

[JustAFocus]

"Eventually she will sound like a human." -- Hillary's friend Neera Tanden, president of Center for American Progress, in a recently Wikileaked email.

[matthewnevin]

people don't hate hillarys voice they just hate her lies

[kwisclubta]

"Hillary has quirks to her speech, just like any other politician."

Trump won because people could see he's not "just like any other politician." In fact, he's not a politician at all. You think Trump took lessons from some speech coach? You think someone else is directing his rhetoric? Say what you will about the man, and I might agree, but you cannot say he is not genuine.

[stevecarey]

There is something so annoying about her voice when she raises it that all I can think about is making it stop. It's definitely not a gender thing because I worked for Carly Fiorina for six years and heard her give talks and speeches countless times. She turned out to be a terrible CEO but her speaking voice and delivery was possibly the best I have ever heard.

[jeremyhathcock]

I would support Hillary... but im against tpp, illegal interventionist war, curruption, constant lying and much more. The problem Hillary has isnt how she sounds but what she says and does. This is not a "shes a woman" thing. #jillnothill

[RondelayAOK]

Her problem is ideology; identity politics is killing us.

[marchon]

She also sounded Angry all the time even when she was trying to be soft and melodic.

[MusicTeacherGuyNorristown]

This is the Atlantic bemoaning that she's not better liked. Because they all like her.

[What]

People didn't care what Bernie sounded like because he was saying the truth

[richardburt]

What a waste of breath this story is.  Her problem isn't her voice.  It's who she is and what she represents.

[Brohaviorist]

Wait, you made an entire video about voice analysis, and then go on to state that it doesn't matter? Make up your mind.