Summary
The study aims to investigate if a similar interaction between physical appearance
and voice could be found in female-to-male transsexuals as had been observed in male-to-female
transsexuals. A panel of judges rated “maleness” of seven female-to-male transsexuals
from video-recorded speech samples using three modes of presentation: auditory-only
presentation, visual-only presentation, and audiovisual presentation. For the group
of transsexuals as a whole, no significant differences were found between scores given
in the auditory-only mode or the visual-only mode and those given in the audiovisual
mode. Analysis of individual results, however, yielded significant differences in
some individuals and there was some relation with hormone treatment. There was no
significant correlation between the ratings of “maleness” in the auditory-only mode
and fundamental frequency. Physical appearance in female-to-male transsexuals appears
not to be a strong influencing factor in general, but may interact with gender recognition
based on the voice in some individuals. The absence of a correlation between fundamental
frequency and rating of maleness could mean that in female-to-male transsexuals, fundamental
frequency is a relatively less important factor for gender expression or perhaps also
that a higher voice in males is more accepted than a lower voice in females.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 04, 2008
Accepted:
October 29,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.