Voice changes on testosterone.

I’m going to update my blog more frequently, and I figured I’d kick it off by sharing something I’ve been super self-conscious about: my voice.

Here’s a comparison of my voice before I started testosterone vs. 81 days on T.

Voice is a major part of “passing” as a certain gender socially. The more it drops, the more at ease people seem with me, because they see and hear a guy. I’m fitting better into their gender binary. Which is okay, because I don’t need everyone to know exactly how I identify inside—I simply want to be seen socially as male.

In turn, being treated as a guy has taken a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m not constantly worrying about the mismatch between my appearance (guy in tie and jacket) and my voice (soprano girl).

Before starting T, my biggest concern about vocal change was losing my ability to sing. Thus far my range is definitely lower and narrower, and my voice cracks and fluctuates. But it feels like, once it settles, I’ll be able to sing comfortably in a lower range. Sometimes I surprise myself by singing an octave+ lower than I could reach before T, with complete control.

I’ve basically gone from Lauren Mayberry to the teen boy lovechild of Shirley Manson and David Gahan. Fun stuff.