Do I really need to develop a femme voice, or is this primarily used for protection from being identified?
No. You can have any voice you wish. Well, kind of. I would do anything to have an Irish accent but that’s not happening.
What I mean is that there are no standards as to how a woman “should” sound. I don’t think there is such a thing as a femme voice. Some of us attempt a different voice because we feel that it’s more inline with one’s gender identity.
Changing one’s voice is not easy. It typically takes the help of a speech therapist over a long period of time. I have friends who are going through this and it’s a lot of hard work and gradually over time their voice is modifying. People who try to do change their voice without professional help tend to sound a little disconcerting and, well, fake. A “feminine voice” is not as simple as just speaking a little higher.
My voice is the last thing I worry about when it comes to being identified or read. Although I feel I look very different in both of my gender presentations, if someone I knew in my boy life saw me in public it’s not my voice that will “give me away”. I also don’t care about being read. I know I’m trans. I assume most people know that I am trans. If I am read it’s not because of my voice. I also don’t care if some random person that I will never ever ever ever see again knows that I am not cis.
When I am en femme I DO choose my words a LITTLE differently, however. If my wife asks HIM is he wants to order pizza for dinner, he might say “yup” but if someone asked Hannah if she wanted to go shopping she would respond with “oh, absolutely!”.
On a related note, I am less concerned with being in disguise or whatever. I am not trying to hide my identity, per se. I would prefer to not be outed as the process of properly coming out and trying to explain who I am (in a manner that is satisfactory to the person I am coming out to) is exhausting. Additionally, it will likely change the dynamic of a relationship and although most people in my life are good people and I doubt any of them would let a thing like my gender identity change our friendship in a negative way, really, you never know.
Love, Hannah
Have a question for me? Oh yes you do. Ask me here!
Hannah McKnight 
Great column as usual Hannah
in general, I don’t worry too much about my voice, except when I’m cheering at a rock ‘n’ roll concert, I wish I were a bit more feminine
The most important thing for me is to participate in the world as a woman. I really like it when that happens.
we have a professional group called the Women in Failure Analysis. They always invite me to their lunchtime activity, which is a total delight for me. The idea of the group is to support younger women who are just getting established in their career.
Just last week, I was in Phoenix and we had a wonderful session. I don’t think I did a very good job of hiding the fact that I was tearing up.
Lots of love to all
brianna
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Voice was always something I concerned myself with when out enfem
Now however like you Hannah if ther don’t realize I’m trans then it’s not an issue for me
Yes I try to disguise my voice a bit but I will never have a very feminine voice
So as to the question I say just go with it and be you
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Doing speech therapy does sound like a quite a commitment , but understand the desire for some to transition completely. I prefer the natural voice that God gave us. With that said, something so attractive about a woman who can speak in a confident, baritone voice.
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Jenner never tried to change his voice, but does have a “lighter”voice than most men. It works for him.
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My voice is a bit higher than most AMAB folks, so it’s lower on my list of “I need to work on this”
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