Fundie Baby Voice Isn't What We Called It

Patriarchal men let women lead when it suits them

First, a note from within the trauma of what it’s like to watch the life you barely escaped play out on the national scene:

There’s a survivor part of me, a part that fought like hell to save my life, my children’s lives, and to recover over a decade from fundamentalist abuse that is deeply grateful to Heather Cox Richardson (and any researchers who helped her) for getting the word CHILDLIKE correct when describing Katie Britt’s manipulative speech. Vocal training and forced modulation in Christian fundamentalism is more than “fundie baby voice.” It’s the denial of our voices, the suppression of our natural sound and range of emotion, and the terms used to train us are reflective of the agenda and abusive system we were in. They want us to sound like sexualized children.

Retraining was a fight that required more courage and persistence than I could ever express. I even paid for coaches and the therapists to help me overcome it. It’s terrifying sometimes to tell the truth abuse in my own voice, and yet, that’s why I do it anyway. The terror points to real danger.

Until this morning, I hadn’t released my own content on Katie Britt’s voice because I’m trauma activated, as are many survivors. And when our experiences are not centered, but explained by outsiders such as is happening on social media by fundie-adjacent content creators who often don’t cite their sources, it matters that they get the terms right. Those other creators aren’t doing the research like HCR and her team, or like other real journalists seeking first hand accounts. (Be watching for a well-researched piece coming on HuffPo, and also this excellent Salon article on Trad Wives, which centered survivor-advocates. As a result, there’s a level of exploitation felt and it’s complicated, because at the end of the day, it’s important voters understand the coercion behind the presentation. Your bodies felt it. Insiders must explain why. Survivors understand that and we try to keep our pain out of the way. Sometimes we do this through humor, but a joke lands differently when it’s offered by an insider, and an entirely different way when it’s pointed out like a jab from the outside.

I felt emotions rise this morning when I read this piece, because I deeply believe the language used matters, especially when naming abuse. My emotions had a sound, an elevation my partner heard. He listened with love and I was not shamed for the sound of my voice, nor tone policed, because he’s not threatened if I sound like a grown up, like the adult woman with power and message that I am. And that, to me, is everything. Words matter, as does tone, and the fundies know this better than anyone else. That’s why they do so much to shut it all down.

And now, a bit of context for Katie Britt’s childlike sweetness and why she used “the fundie baby voice” to bring you under her spell. (It’s too long for email; please read in the app if you experience any cut off.)