Perception of Voice Gender By Members of The LGBT+ Community

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/z316q2781

Abstract

Research indicates that cisgender men, cisgender women, and transgender women perceive “male” and “female” voices differently between groups, when presented with audio clips and a forced-choice between the binary sexes. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are true differences between individuals’ perceptions of voice gender due to the influence of their own gender and/or sexuality. Participants were asked to rate a variety of voices on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from masculine (1) to feminine (7). Results of the study, which included 55 participants who self-identified their gender and sexuality, indicate that there is no significant difference between any group’s perception of masculine, feminine, or androgynous voices. The clinical implications of this research indicate that when speech-language pathologists (SLPs) treat transgender/nonbinary clients in voice therapy, continuum terms (masculine, feminine) should be substituted into the SLP vocabulary for the binary terms (male, female).

Creator