I trained my voice it has gotten really good but I have one problem. Everyone around me knows I'm trans which is robbing me. It is as if I don't care like I did a year ago. I have been gendered female by strangers up until I open my mouth but the sad thing is I have a female voice. A lot of this is what is the point. not fun, not fun, not fun!!!!
I was doing all this for me when I first started and got to the point where this does not feel right. Not the transition but how you get treated. oh well I guess. I did spend the last three months getting my make-up right which I am very happy with. Very fun I hope to come up with new ideas to put it on.
I just don't know how to keep it female. It reminds me of how I felt presenting as female clothing wise. It was hard to get started but got easier over time. I use my voice alone and some when I remember I have one. But I want to use it full time but I can't seem to let go of the other for some reason. I don't know. I hope this make sense to some one. If so how did you get past this? ???
I haven't got past it yet, I have the same problem, I practice my voice but since I'm not full-time I have to switch back to male voice and that seems to throw it off.
I've come out to a few people so that I can use my fem voice with them but they've known me before and think it's weird so I often revert to male without thinking.
If your problem is switching context like me, then I think the only way to keep it female is to always use a female voice no matter what, with everyone. If your full-time that is.
I think that's the only way to get past it.. it's hard work too at the start. I didn't find finding my fem voice very hard, but sticking with it everyday and being able to instantly get it back is the hard part.. it just takes time like anything.
I've been thinking about this the past two or three weeks as I really just started training my voice.
Practicing in the car to and from work seems to be helping a ton, but I've also taken it upon myself to interject what I've been learning into my male voice- slowly but surely- so people don't really notice a huge shift all at once. I do want everything to be gradual as to avoid any potential awkwardness or uncomfortableness from people that knew me before as male (everyone).
My friends have taken notice (in a positive way) as far as my speech patterns and pitch, and I'd like to think it's part of the reason why they've been nailing the pronouns recently- even though 98% of the time I am still in mega andro boy mode :D If voice comes up in conversation (so far only from me asking if they've noticed), most of them think it's just the hormones until I tell them it all comes from practice. Sometimes I say something a certain way and shock myself! The girl inside is taking over and I love it!
I don't have much experience to really help you for sure because I just started, but perhaps you could try slowly feminizing your male voice? My goal is to do it slowly enough that they get used to it naturally, and hopefully they won't be weirded out at any point.
Quote from: Jennygirl on January 23, 2013, 01:35:49 AM
If voice comes up in conversation (so far only from me asking if they've noticed), most of them think it's just the hormones until I tell them it all comes from practice. Sometimes I say something a certain way and shock myself! The girl inside is taking over and I love it!
Sometimes public ignorance can be our friend? It's easy to forget how much that we learn about what 'mones can and cannot do is not general knowledge?
Quote from: Aleah on January 23, 2013, 12:45:31 AM
I haven't got past it yet, I have the same problem, I practice my voice but since I'm not full-time I have to switch back to male voice and that seems to throw it off.
I've come out to a few people so that I can use my fem voice with them but they've known me before and think it's weird so I often revert to male without thinking.
If your problem is switching context like me, then I think the only way to keep it female is to always use a female voice no matter what, with everyone. If your full-time that is.
I think that's the only way to get past it.. it's hard work too at the start. I didn't find finding my fem voice very hard, but sticking with it everyday and being able to instantly get it back is the hard part.. it just takes time like anything.
I'm full time other than my voice. I think wearing my cloths first and getting laught at in the beganning has caused a mental block or something. I made myself ender their crap but not so sure it was a good Idea at this point.
U basically make it fulltime all the time, kick yourself if it ever sounds to masculine. Every sigh, every groan, every cough or sneeze, you keep it femme.
Its a constant struggle if you didnt start hrt before your voice dropped or it just never went deep by the grace of god.
You get used to it.
What worked for me many years ago was listening to the women around me and on TV. Listening to their tones and inflections and playing them over in my head replacing their voice with mine. Train your thoughts to use those inflections you have been listening to - rising at the end of a word, beginning of words etc.
When you keep this up all the time speaking that way will come naturally. I was lucky though and had a small voice to start with. But any voice can be trained. So much can be achieved with mental training.
I found Patricia Richardson's voice from Home Improvement particularly inspiring and sort of modeled my voice on hers to start with - and I'm Aussie >:-)
There's more to it of course, but that's a good start.
Quote from: Noelle on January 23, 2013, 02:39:44 AM
U basically make it fulltime all the time, kick yourself if it ever sounds to masculine. Every sigh, every groan, every cough or sneeze, you keep it femme.
Its a constant struggle if you didnt start hrt before your voice dropped or it just never went deep by the grace of god.
You get used to it.
I was thinking that this what I was going to have to do. Even my son said that if I was to work on keeping my voice where it needs to be I would be in good shape. If it is all I can do then I just need get motivated and do it. Thanks everyone
OMG! I know the feeling. I as mamm'd all over the place the other night and I was wearing nothing but a V neck and jeans with my hair in a pony tail. Then I get a call, and I have to answer it in my guy voice! It's sooooo hard at times!
I was telling my spouse in a perfect world, we would move to another place and start over but for now we are stuck because our child needs to be by her doctors (and that's another enchilada there too).
I've done a "progressive" upward voice conversion, meaning, I go higher than usual with my guy voice where it's in that middle range but then I go higher when I can be myself. My spouse "makes me" practice because she feels I'm pretty much ready to go full time. I don't think I'm there yet.
This is what I like about this group that people are going through the same things and I can relate to them. It makes me feel less alone in all this.
Keep those posts coming!
Quote from: Stephanie.Izann on January 23, 2013, 01:57:11 PM
This is what I like about this group that people are going through the same things and I can relate to them. It makes me feel less alone in all this.
Keep those posts coming!
Same here. I love it here. I would not have gotten as far as I have without it. The post will keep coming. The voice really is a pain in the butt though.