Publications and ResourcesLOVE YOUR VOICE

Below are links to helpful articles and websites, as well as a very basic list of terms and definitions. The Voice Lab faculty are also delighted to help in any way we can and to answer questions.

Books:

One Weird Trick: A User’s Guide to Transgender Voice
By Liz Jackson Hearns

The Singing Teacher’s Guide to Transgender Voices
By Liz Jackson Hearns and Brian Kremer

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Terminology

This list is only a starting place, and we recommend that you continue learning from and expanding the resources listed on this page.

Gender: A series of social attributes, mannerisms, sounds, colors, shapes, etc. that society assigns to either “female,” “male,” or “gender-neutral.” Gender is a self-perpetuating social construct that can be celebratory, oppressive, and everything in between. Gender is private, public, and relational, but it should never be assumed.

Sex: A series of biological attributes and traits that medical communities assign to either “male” or “female.” Both sex and gender are assigned at birth; the former medically and legally, the latter socially.

Gender identity: the gender(s) someone knows themselves to be.

Gender expression: the outward expression of someone’s gender through clothing, makeup, voice, gestures, etc.

Gender perception: the way society reacts to and interacts with people based on perception of gender.

Pronouns: the way we refer to each other and ourselves in the third person (e.g. Robin went to the store and she bought some straws/Robin went to the store and he bought some straws/Robin went to the store and they bought some straws.)

Transgender (adj): describes a person for whom their gender identity is different than the sex/gender they were assigned at birth. (inaccurate usages: transgendered, transgenders, a transgender/a trans)

Cisgender (adj): describes a person for whom their gender identity is the same as the sex/gender they were assigned at birth. (inaccurate usages: cisgendered, cisgenders, a cisgender/a cis)

Intersex: a broad description for a number of scenarios in which a person’s biological attributes/traits exist outside of traditional male or female characteristics. Being intersex is not a pathology and medical intervention is not required but is still often carried out with intersex infants and children.

Trans or t/gnc: abbreviation for umbrella terms to describe people who are not cisgender.

Transgender man/trans man/trans masculine person: A person who was assigned female at birth but identifies as a male or masc-leaning person. (inaccurate usages: born a girl, biologically female, FTM, “is a he now”)

Transgender woman/trans woman/trans feminine person: A person who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a female or fem-leaning person. (inaccurate usages: born a boy, biologically male, MTF, “is a she now”)

Gender nonconforming/non-binary (adj): describes a person whose gender identity and/or expression is not exclusively male or female.

AMAB/AFAB: Acronym that stands for Assigned Male At Birth or Assigned Female At Birth. In voice work, a more accurate way of addressing of how assigned sex might influence voice would be to describe hormonal environments and histories, i.e. estrogen-influenced voice or testosterone-influenced voice.

Gender dysphoria: the feeling that one’s emotional and psychological gender experience is in conflict with their sex/gender assigned at birth, which manifests sometimes as discomfort with the body, appearance, voice, etc.

Transition: The process of changing or updating gender expression to align with gender identity and alleviate dysphoria. Transition can include social, medical, and legal elements. No element of transition is required to validate a trans person’s identity; transition is not linear or finite; and the journey of transition does not need to arrive at a place that makes cis people feel more comfortable.