Back by popular demand is our series of posts here at Jessica Who?, titled “Word of the Week”. In these short articles, published most Fridays, we explore the various labels and umbrella terms used to label us. By doing this, I hope to educate not only myself, but also anyone who may not be familiar with these terms. Feel free to add your own knowledge to each post by leaving a comment 
.
The label that we will be examining this week is: femme voice
Standard Definition
The term “femme voice” does not have a standard definition but each of the individual words has an official meaning.
Femme is the French word for woman and voice is defined as sound produced by vertebrates by means of lungs, larynx, or syrinx; especially : sound so produced by human beings.
Derogatory?
Noooooooooo.
What’s It Really Mean?
For MTF trans people, a femme voice is a manner of speaking (inflection, tone, speed, enunciation and vocabulary) that is different from how they speak/spoke as a male. For those who transition in order to align their bodies with their minds, a femme voice is almost always an essential part of said transition. I would imagine that after a certain period of time, the “femme voice” becomes normal speaking voice, without the need for distinction as it becomes the only way a person speaks.
Many crossdressers also find it helpful to develop a femme voice in order to match their presentation. However, this is rarely a permanent change.
My Take
As stated above, a femme voice is very important for many people, but according to what I’ve heard, it’s a lot of hard work. However, the reward is great as you will have another piece to your puzzle.
I posted a video parodying femme voice but of course this is just light-hearted comedy meant to highlight the funnier side of crossdressing.
If you want to develop a femme voice by all means go for it!! But, if you are happy with your voice and only care about dressing female, then by all means don’t feel any pressure to develop a femme voice because at the end of the day you must do what is right for you.
Your Take
Have you anything to add? Please leave your take on this word in the comments section, I hope we can open up a dialogue and learn from each other while educating the masses.
JessicaWhoHD
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t really have anything to add to what you said about the meaning of “femme voice” (the term is pretty self-explanatory, after all, and as you said, hardly derogatory), although your discussion of the subject itself made me think a bit about my own situation. While I’ve never really attempted to develop a femme voice, I’ve gathered from other people’s feedback that my natural voice tends to be fairly soft, and I’ve often fooled people into thinking it’s a woman’s one without even trying. (I’ve lost count, for example, of the number of times I’ve made an appointment (or simply ordered a pizza) over the phone and had the person at the other end of the line write down my name as a certain woman’s one that sounds rather similar to my real name.) I see it as an asset overall – I imagine it’d be particularly helpful in the job I hold down in the “caring profession”* – but sometimes it ticks me off a bit. People’s aforementioned inability to get my name right on the phone can get a bit annoying (to the point where I sometimes feel like screaming, “Are you [expletive] deaf?!” down the line), and often when I use a particularly soft tone of voice at work, it’s when I’m trying to reason with a difficult client who, again, I’d rather be screaming my head off at!
As another interesting reflection on this particular subject, I’m often surprised at just how many hip-hop artists (and ones well-respected by their peers at that) have rather effeminate voices. It seems strange for such a macho musical subculture!
*Having often heard it said that if women want to succeed in a male-dominated field, they should make their voices and mannerisms a little more masculine, I’m wondering if the reverse holds true for men, like myself, who work in female-dominated industries.
That’s very interesting, I think it would be beneficial for men in women-dominated industries to have a softer voice and mannerisms as such.
Very true about the hip-hop comment.
My natural voice ranges from soft to booming depending on my mood.
My normal voice has changed gradually with time and dressing many times as a female. It is higher and softer. I did not try to obtain this new sound but came with time and use. Even my singing voice is different although it was high pitched to begin with. If you heard me singing you would think of it as female and not male voice. Are there others who have experienced this?
What an amazing side effect of dressing, eh?
I too wonder if anyone has experienced this
I’ve done a lot of work on my voice and it has helped me a LOT. I have been seeing a voice teacher since December of 2009 and I now no longer get sir’ed on the phone which is amazing!
There have also been times where I felt like somebody had possibly made me and yet when I spoke, they suddenly were put at ease.
It is a lot of work but well worth it IMHO.
Although, everybody is different. I have talked to some trans girls that don’t feel the need to change their voice because that’s the voice they’re comfortable with.
To each her own! It’s our own individual journey and we need to figure out what is important to us and what isn’t. =)
<3 Jerica
Yea, Jerica your voice has undergone an amazing transformation. You never cease to amaze me as each new vlog releases and your voice is even better than before. I’m very proud of you girl!!
And thanks for the great comment
I do a lot of acting, and have – over the years – played a few women on stage. Thus I have developed a FEW femme voices. It is lots of fun (for me – I guess I’m a real “ham actor” ~~giggle~~) and helps me be “in character” when dressed.
Very cool, Julie! I’d love to see some footage