Voice Training/Mouthy-Bitch to Soft-Spoken Wimp
I’m just gonna put it out there–
I’ve been voice training
With degrees of self-awareness
Degrees of “doing it on purpose”
My whole life!
Why do you think I like
Hank Williams so dang much
The guy is so whiny–
His voice is just
Exactly what I wish I sounded like
I understand that
Estrogen doesn’t really make your voice higher–
As evidenced by
The countless cis women
Who sound like they have gravel in their pipes
It does suck, however
That as a trans guy
I’m like–
“not allowed to complain about my voice insecurity
Because x y and z has it worse than me”
Which I find obnoxious!
Literally every cis guy at my company
Has a depth to his voice
I can’t replicate.
I also genuinely can’t
Speak loudly–
It’s been getting a bit better
But cis men are
SO FUCKING LOUD
Compared to me.
I went from being told
I was too loud, too unfriendly
Too self-important and had too much attitude–
To being told I had
To speak up,
Demand more
Take up more space and
Be heard!
It’s fucking confusing as hell over here.
The world is very much in denial
About it’s sexism problem
And how much
The tone of your voice
Is a part of that.
I’ve basically resigned
To accepting that I will be seen as
A soft spoken wimp–
I don’t walk tall and I
Don’t carry a big stick.
I’m working on
All of it.
Voice Training is just
Another thing
No doctor can really help you with.