Recently, former decathlete and TV personality, Bruce Jenner, admitted that he is transgender, thereby becoming the most famous and vocal advocate for transgender issues. Transgender refers to female to male or male to female identification. In either case, voice modification is a crucial part of the transgender transitioning including laryngeal shave. Transmasculine people, on the other hand, can be treated with testosterone which can lower the pitch and influence perception of voice gender. The current article is a comprehensive review evaluating data about transmasculine people’s vocal situations. It highlights the paucity of research so far conducted with transmasculine people and reports that although testosterone can lower pitch, it is unclear whether the extent of the pitch change is enough to result in a voice that is recognised by others as male. The author makes several recommendations for future research on this subject so that transmasculine people can be provided with reliable advice about the likelihood and nature of voice problems they may experience, and be offered treatment that is suitable to support them in their endeavour to be perceived as a member of the gender group to which they feel they belong.
Voice issues in transgender individuals
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Transmasculine people’s vocal situations: a critical review of gender related discourses and empirical data.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
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