Okay here is a voice clip. I don't think my voice has changed since the last time I posted a voice clip though. Does it pass as male? Does my voice go either way, male or female? It is normal for my voice to be this high still on T  over a year later?

Hate to burst your bubble but your voice sounds like a teen age boy.

You voice passes as male completely.

It sounds male, if I heard it I wouldn't question it. I don't know if you sing, but it sounds like a male alto-tenor.

--Jay Jay

Quote from: LordKAT on June 02, 2012, 02:54:18 PM
Hate to burst your bubble but your voice sounds like a teen age boy.

I agree.
I actually couldn't read that voice as anything other than the average teenage boy which actually could be a good and bad thing for Dominick.
The good thing is the voice is totally male, but the bad thing is that Dominick is not teenaged. Now that I think of it, he doesn't exactly look anywhere near his actual age either though....hmm.

Dominick
I'm going to ask a question that I don't think anyone has, but do you frequent groups of people that look more like what your actual age is? If you do, I think that can play a part in you getting misgendered - females tend to look younger and if you have a softer, more teenaged face, and are around a bunch of thirty year old men, in comparison to them, others may assume you're either a girl rather than just some random young boy that they're walking around with.
  Also, as I said many times before, your confidence levels likely have something to do with it too.

Thanks guys.

@LordKAT: It's okay if I sound like a teenage boy. I hope in time it will get deeper, but as long as I sound male I'm okay with that for now.

@JasonRX: "do you frequent groups of people that look more like what your actual age is?"

Not really. I only have like 2 friends. One of my friends is 30 like me, he's like 5'6 or something I'm not sure of his height, and my other friend is like 36 I think and he's a tall guy. Everyone is short compared to him. I don't see him too much though b/c he's always working and he doesn't live near me. I usually just hang out with my one friend on Fridays. He's doesn't look 30 either. He can pass for a guy in his early 20's. 

@aleon515: Thanks. I don't sing, but I wish I could.

@Casey: My cousin who is 15 gets female sometimes over the phone and he hates that. But to me his voice doesn't sound female at all over the phone or in person.

@Malachite: Thanks.

I'm going to be honest and none of this is meant to be offensive; take from it what you will.  You sound like a very, very young guy OR a younger woman with a bad cold.  Personally, I think your voice sounds very nasally, coming from higher up than it should and some voice training/coaching would likely be beneficial for you.  A lot trans guys have that problem.  I think it's because they keep trying to talk in their old, higher range (I'm occasionally guilty of this myself, especially when talking to children).

Don't get discouraged.  In the grand scheme of things, you haven't been on T that long.  It's about 2.5 years for me and I'm still changing.  First puberty takes a lot longer than 1-2 years.  Give your body some time to adjust and develop with the T.

@Adio: It's cool. People have told me I have that nasally sound to my voice. I think it's been mentioned here on the board too when I posted a voice clip before. Thank you for your honesty.

You sound 110% male to me - but definitely like someone who's in their late teens/early twenties as the oldest, and sort of like you have a cold.

I can see how your voice could sound female on the phone, especially if you're talking faster - but honestly, there's no way I would read your voice as anything but male without you taking it up half an octave (which, again, usually happens on the phone). In the clip you have some female inflections (as most trans guys do), which can be hard to get rid of. Talking to a voice coach about helping you to be less nasally and working on your inflections should help you quite a bit.

@Cameron James: Thanks. I have no idea where to find a voice coach and have no money to spend on that. I just hope in time that it will get deeper. I can start practicing talking from a different part of my throat. I just have to remember to do that. I forget a lot of the times or my voices goes back it fourth between my normal speaking voice and trying to talk from a different part of my throat.

You sound like a teenage boy to me, but some women have voices that are similar. However, I notice that your esses sound very sibilant, and that is a trait usually associated with women. A lot of trans guys I've met have pronounced esses, which is probably one reason they are read as gay.

It's funny. In the crowd I used to run with, the straight trans men were often read as gay, whereas the gay ones came across as straight (including me). I've speculated that it has to do with the people we used to keep company with. The straight guys were former lesbians and often spent all of their personal lives around women, whereas the gay guys tended to spend most of their time with men.

Anyway, I'm not sure whether the esses were more pronounced because of the equipment you were recording with. And I'm not sure of the remedy if it's your current vocal pattern.

You also have quite a few hesitations, but many people do that when they are recording themselves or leaving a message; they don't feel completely comfortable and have a lot of gaps in their speech. But that type of pattern tends to come across as tentative, and I would be more likely to read it as female rather than as male.

@Arch: Thanks. I'm not sure what you mean with the esses but It's cool. I was using my ipod b/c it's the easiest to upload and I can't afford a chip or whatever for my camcorder.

Yeah, the hesitations was b/c it's kinda weird talking to a camera and I wasn't sure exactly what to say.

But the thing to me is that these traits shouldn't matter b/c I should look completely male over a year on T or have masculized in some way and I haven't. Every person I've seen on this site and on youtube has changed on T in just a couple of months, with a few exceptions. T has not masculinized me in any way. When you got more than 10 people telling you that you look exactly the same as you did pre-T, something is wrong, and I'm upset cause I'm losing my hair and getting hair in unwanted places for nothing. If T was working I wouldn't be so upset about that.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on June 03, 2012, 07:56:27 PM
But the thing to me is that these traits shouldn't matter b/c I should look completely male over a year on T or have masculized in some way and I haven't. Every person I've seen on this site and on youtube has changed on T in just a couple of months, with a few exceptions. T has not masculinized me in any way. When you got more than 10 people telling you that you look exactly the same as you did pre-T, something is wrong, and I'm upset cause I'm losing my hair and getting hair in unwanted places for nothing. If T was working I wouldn't be so upset about that.

Honestly I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall when I reply to you because after you just keep saying the same things as before.  I and a few others have said that a year and a half on T is nothing, it's a drop in the bucket.  There are guys out there who didn't experience changes till way more time on T.  My changes aren't even that great and I'm over a year and a half on T.  Puberty takes time, as in years.  It sounds like it's time to re-evaluate why you are still on T, if you are this unhappy with it and think about stopping T.  I feel there is no reason to keep taking it if you get no changes you like and all changes you get you hate. 

Another thing, you keep saying "T should have done this by X time" but the truth is that no it shouldn't have.  There is no timeline of what should happen by when.  That T will automatically make miraculous changes to a person super quickly is a myth and fantasy that a large portion of the trans community sadly believes to be true.

@Andy8715: the thing is now it's  too late to get off T b/c the hair won't stop growing it will only grow at a slower rate, so I almost don't see the point of going off T since the negative effects are irriverseable.

The only reason I believe changes should happen by an x amount of time is b/c that's what I've  seen on YouTube. I'm just frustrated b/c I want changes to happen now b/c no one takes me seriously as a guy and no one treats me like a guy. If I had changes and looked like a boy I would hope that I would get treated like a guy from my family. They make no effort to use the right pronouns or to call me Dominick. I thought if I was able to grow a decent beard or something they would have no choice but to call me Dominick. Also, my family is teaching my 1 year old  cousin to call me by my female name.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on June 04, 2012, 12:39:57 AM
the thing is now it's  too late to get off T b/c the hair won't stop growing it will only grow at a slower rate, so I almost don't see the point of going off T since the negative effects are irriverseable.

I'm sorry, Dominick, but if this is really how you look at the situation, then perhaps you should see a therapist or something to talk about your personal issues. It sounds like you're not even sure why you started testosterone. As for me, I started testosterone because I wasn't okay with my body being controlled by female hormones and needed that to change. For a lot of people, going through this process is a "do or die" decision and you seem to shrug it off as it really doesn't matter either way. You're so easily dissuaded that you're not changing as fast as everyone else does, but I'm also sure there are other people who experience changes as slow as you and some of these people might even be men that were born into the right body. Essentially, you're going through puberty again and the process takes different time for everyone as all have already said. Also, before starting HRT, you should have been aware you don't get to pick and choose the changes you get - it's all based on genetic pre-dispostion and how receptive to testosterone your body may be. I think to assume you would only get changes you like is another reason you might need to see a therapist, because you keep stating that point over and over, and it's really unrealistic thinking. Also, your self-confidence isn't too stellar.

If this comes off too harsh, I apologize, but I think it needed to be said one way or another. You obviously have other issues going on.

@JasonRX: I do see a counselor and she knows all this stuff. I knew before starting T that I didn't get to pick and choose what changes I get. But watching youtube videos I'd assume I would change on T, but I was wrong. I'm not gonna go off T b/c I really want changes and going off T will make the fat distribution back  to female and I don't want that. I don't want a female body. I just hope in time my changes will eventually come.

Sounds like you didn't do enough research before starting T.  I've felt frustrated by the fact that my changes didn't come as fast as I wanted them to, but for me T is necessary.  I can't live a live in a body filled with female hormones.

If you want your family and those who know you to refer to you and treat you in a certain way you have to stand up for yourself.  Tell them what's what.  You can't take such a passive stance and expect them to magically change.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on June 04, 2012, 01:11:53 PM
But watching youtube videos I'd assume I would change on T, but I was wrong.

Perhaps it's time to stop watching youtube videos.

@Andy8715: I guess I didn't do enough research.

I'd get yelled at if I told my family to call me Dominick and treat me like a man. Their not accepting in that way. I have to deal with them not accepting me until I can move out and away from them.

@Casey: Thanks Casey for understanding my frustrations. I keep thinking that too all the time, "maybe in few months I will pass",and I don't and so on.

@Adio: Yeah, I gotta stop doing that. I did stop for a while, but started up again.

I still wish you all the best, Dominick, but you really can't fear being "yelled" at. I come from a family that if I stood up to myself when I was a kid, I'd get beaten down in a second (if it was going into "sassing" territory or not "respecting authority" territory) but I came out and still stand up to my mother when she calls me my birth name. I don't live with them, no, and I understand that you live with or near your family and that makes it more difficult, but you really need to establish some kind of emotional ground there.. for better or worse

Also, I feel like you have changed a bit on T... You still haven't taken pics from the same angle as your pre-T ones, but I still see a few years of age in regards to your appearance in this year on T.

I don't know what to say, but I really do - again - wish you all the best. I didn't hear your voice clip though, so I cannot tell you whether I believe your voice passes or not.