Adjustment - When the voice does not fit the gender: Logopede helps transwoman
"Mieeeh" – just like on a long string, Jessy pulls the tone from deep in the back of her throat up to the front of her mouth. The sound becomes noticeably nasal, much like speaking through a stuffed nose.
For the past two years, Jessy has been in the process of transitioning to a woman. Before that, she lived and spoke as a man for twenty years. For a year now, she has been taking female sexual hormones to adjust her body. However, her voice does not change automatically with this. Instead, she relies on the support of Johanna Joch, a speech therapist from Hamburg.
Jessy's deep, resonant voice had been an asset for her job as a department head in the export of life for a long time. However, as her body began to change, her voice no longer fit her appearance. "My colleagues didn't take me as seriously as before," Jessy says.
With the help of Johanna Joch, she learned many nuances of her own voice at the beginning of her vocal transition and trained a new voice that suits her appearance. Many factors play a role in speech that most people are not even aware of. We use our language automatically, without thinking about the parameters it consists of.
Vocal Transition: Three Factors Determine the Timbre of the Voice
For instance, the position of the larynx. If it is relatively low, the voice sounds deeper; if it is raised, the pitch increases. Another factor is the so-called "twang." It occurs when Jessy pushes the tone further into her mouth and moves her nose and tongue forward to suppress nasal resonance. By using resonance in the back of her mouth and throat, the effect disappears. Many singers, like Britney Spears ("O Baby, baby") or the British singer Duffy ("Mercy!"), use a strong twang to achieve a high recognition value. German singer Jan Delay also uses this effect deliberately.
The third essential factor for the voice is the vocal cord level. The vocal tone can be made softer or harsher. A more breathy voice sounds softer, a less or not at all breathy voice sounds harsher. From these three components – larynx position, twang, and breath support – Jessy has created her individual desired voice.
Using it in everyday life requires a lot of practice. At the beginning of the transition, she was very uncertain and did not want to make phone calls on the train or be approached in public. However, with Johanna Joch's support, significant progress was made relatively quickly: "I didn't expect that," Jessy says.
Even after just half a year of training, she became more confident in conversations at work and no longer felt shy in public speaking situations. Although there are occasional setbacks, and she sometimes loses her authentic vocal tone in stressful situations, Jessy has gained new self-confidence through the vocal transition.
One could also change the voice through a surgical intervention, Johanna Joch says. Women typically have shorter vocal cords than men, which is why they usually have a higher pitch naturally. An operation should be carefully considered, as it comes with medical risks. Furthermore, the new voice may not necessarily be the one the transperson desires. Most transpeople achieve a vocal tone with which they can identify through speech therapy training. And they can prevent overloading their voice with the learned vocal techniques.
Jessy's voice transition journey has taken her beyond Germany, as she seeks advice from renowned voice coaches worldwide. In a recent session with a transfemale voice coach based in New York City, they discussed the importance of maintaining her health during the transformational process.
Transforming her voice has had a profound impact on Jessy's professional life. Now, as a key figure in the World Health Organization's gender equality initiative based in Hamburg, Germany, she feels her new voice better aligns with her gender identity and allows her to effectively advocate for gender health issues.
Despite the numerous improvements, Jessy confesses that her voice can still be perceived as not entirely traditional in certain settings. To ensure she maintains a powerful impact in presentations and meetings, she continues to practice and refine her voice in Voicebook, an online platform dedicated to voice training for trans people.
