Artifact 9 - Getting Started - Voice Resource Project

This connection is a bit of a stretch, but I think it’s something worth mentioning nonetheless with regards to the communication of gender. I’ve provided a link to SumianVoice’s Voice Resource Project, a collection of information and tips on vocal gendering intended primarily for an audience of transfeminine people (though it is worth mentioning that transmasculine resources exist on there as well, but these resources are generally less sought after due to the vocal effects of masculinizing HRT). This is a quite a twist on the process of gendered communication, and interacts interestingly with the discussion of Gendered Lives’ “Gendered Style of Verbal Communication” section starting on page 103. We generally think of gendered speech communities being informed primarily by subconscious youth experience, however many trans people (including myself) attempt to re-learn and modify their voices much later in life.

This includes the obvious physical factors, such as pitch and resonance, but it also very often includes examination of the the gendered communication factors found in our book such as speech styles and minor behavioral cues. Learning these processes as an adult is extremely difficult, and can take years to settle into something satisfactory, a process that usually is done over childhood where exploration is more expected but becomes awkward and potentially socially isolating as an adult until fundamental patterns are solidified. Gendered communication and vocal modification is an under-represented aspect of the trans experience, and it’s something that often causes great amounts of struggle and dysphoria.