Faking the voice

My Mother is from the heart of the South. You can hear it in her voice sometimes (but not always). When she was growing up (knee high to a [insert standard animal here]) I imagine that the drawl that is hinted at in her speech was full-out, non-stop dixie. To this day, I can barely understand what my Grandfather says on the phone.

She doesn't live in the South anymore, she hasn't for decades. When she was a young teen, she moved north. It is funny but people don't often talk with that Southern twang outside of the South. So, she adapted. Sure, much of it was peer pressure "You talk funny!" but she acculturated to her new environment. Her old accent comes out in times of great emotion (or when she is talking to someone from down there) but for the most part, she-don't-talk-that-way-no-more, y'hear?

Is there a point?

Yes, probably.

Accents are kind of like a dialect for a region. Put simply it is a standardized way of talking for a social group. Speech in a social group is diluted and people have a tendency to talk alike.

C'mon Anne, get to the point!

Is an accent fake? Does my Grandfather chastise my Mother on the phone?
"Y'all talk normal now!" (he doesn't)
No. Because our accents change based on our social situations. Mom isn't putting on a Yankee Affectation when she speaks and it isn't fake when she slips into the sounds of your youth.

Ah, the point. Finally.

A female voice coming from a testesterone poisoned throat can be considered an accent. True, there are other factors involved (pitch, timbre, modulation, vocabulary) but for the most part it is a dialect for a social group.

So, is it fake? At first, maybe. A MTF has to insert herself into the social role. That role and group has rules. No one really knows all the rules but they know when they are broken. So, our transitioner has to do her best. With proper feedback (subconscious or overt), the accent is learned - slowly.

Pitch and Timbre are harder. It takes training and feedback. For many it is completely frustrating for a long, long time. It can even be painful (have your throat lozenges ready).

There are tricks to it (more on that later) but I think the big one is in your head.

Don't fake your voice - own it. You are not putting on a show, you are unlearning the other way of speaking. You are excavating your own voice.

So, with all that in mind, is the new voice fake?