Transgender Medicine by Leonid Poretsky & Wylie C. Hembree

Author:Leonid Poretsky & Wylie C. Hembree
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030056834
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Vocal parameter

Voice identified as masculine

Voice identified as feminine

Speaking fundamental frequency

Below 145 Hz

Above 165 Hz

Resonance

Lower formant frequencies

Higher formant frequencies

Intonation

Downward

Upward, larger range

Voice quality

Less breathy and more loud

More breathy and less loud

How Voice Changes Have Been Made in Two Populations

One of the most common professional goals in modifying the voice is to change the SFF so that the voice matches the gender of choice for the individual in terms of pitch. SFF change alone, however, does not mean that listeners are more likely to rate a speaker as male or female [5, 9]. One reason that SFF is not distinctive to gender is that there is overlap in the range that is perceived as male or female [22, 23].

Changes in SFF are not solely associated with voice satisfaction in the individual. Some transfeminine people have been reportedly satisfied with their voices even though they fell within typical female fundamental frequency range [24]. Conversely, possessing a fundamental frequency that is more characteristic of one’s gender identity does not always lead to voice satisfaction. Hancock et al. [25] reported that one of their transmasculine participants was dissatisfied with his voice because it “did not reflect his ‘true self’” (p. 2480), despite being within a typically masculine SFF range.

Modifications in SFF have been achieved through voice training, hormonal treatment in the case of transmasculine individuals, or surgery. Surgery has been designed to either increase or decrease SFF [19, 26]. Surgery to increase SFF for transfeminine individuals is more common, as transmasculine individuals usually achieve a lower pitch through hormonal treatment. Pitch-lowering surgery has been typically performed on males with voice disorders, such as mutational falsetto and dysphonia. The surgery lowers the pitch by reducing vocal fold tension through a resection of the cricothyroid cartilage [27]. SFF can be increased in transfeminine individuals surgically by increasing vocal fold tension, decreasing vocal fold mass, or shortening vocal fold length [21]. Figure 12.2 provides a comparison of the length of the male and female vocal folds. The most commonly used surgery to increase SFF for transfeminine individuals is cricothyroid approximation (CA). The procedure decreases the distance between the cricoid and thyroid cartilages to tense and thin the vocal folds [28]. Because thinner and tenser vocal folds vibrate more quickly, the SFF will increase when these cartilages are permanently approximated [26, 29].

Fig. 12.2Size comparison of the length of male and female vocal folds

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.