“A female voice is the voice of a person who is female”. Sarah Hennies took the words right out of my mouth. A woman’s voice (in the most basic sense of the word) is simply that which comes from a woman.
I believe this statement because, over the course of my lifetime, I have heard so many voices that I can fully appreciate all the variations, qualities and uniqueness that is inherent in every person’s voice. I have heard people who were AMAB sound like people who were AFAB and vice versa. I have heard disordered voices. I have heard pathological voices. And, I have heard exceptionally distinctive voices.
Because voices are so variable, I tell everyone with whom I work that, for me, it is important to retain the unique qualities of a voice that makes it instantly identifiable. I wish for them to sound like themselves, but a little different, perhaps. For me, the goal is to help them develop a voice that is functional, sustainable, presents them to others as they wish and makes them happy.
A woman’s voice is like a perfectly blended fragrance. It has many components in varying proportions. Some are heavier and made with more base notes, heart notes and only a few top notes. Others are light and summery with a focus on top notes and few base notes. For every woman, the voice is the same; it is like her own unique fragrance with her own unique blend of vocal elements. So, when we begin to plan their therapy, I do ask what elements of their voice they like. I also ask what aspects of their voice they think needs some attention. How do they need the voice to function? What do they want it to do for them?
I encourage my clients to be open to discovery along the path of voice exploration. That’s because, along the way, they may discover that the voice that makes them happy is not what they originally thought it would be. It may be something different altogether. Maybe a spicier, woodier fragrance suits them better than the floral one they’ve been trying to wear.
I happened upon an interview with Sarah Hennies about her experimental music/documentary film, “Contralto”, which “explores gender and sound with a cast of trans women, performing vocal exercises and reciting fragments of speech therapy texts all alongside a score of percussion strings and found instruments”.
In an interview on radio station KBPS, Hennies states, “I do not find the practice of teaching, uh, components of cis-gender female speech to trans women to be a bad thing.” But, she goes on to share her opinion that voice therapy for transwomen “should be… to help someone based on their own unique needs and characteristics find a voice that makes them feel comfortable rather than telling them here's what CIS women do”. She implies the former approach to voice therapy sets transwomen up for failure, because “it sets up this internal monologue that the thing that you are trying to do is unattainable.”
I am totally in agreement with Hennies’ philosophy. I consider all voices, containing a myriad of vocal characteristics, as valid. And yet, I see the merit of discussing with my clients the characteristics that differentiate cis male and cis female voices. Many of my clients feel they benefit from this knowledge, and consider it helps guide them in discovering their ideal voice. It helps them to create their own perfect blend.
I’m more optimistic than Hennies, perhaps, in the potential that each person holds for modifying their voice. Although each person may possess tangible or intangible limitations, the vocal instrument is flexible, and change is not impossible for anyone.