Gender expansive listeners utilize a non-binary, multidimensional conception of gender to inform voice gender perception
Date
2022-01-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Brain and Language
Abstract
Highlights:
• People of all genders rated themselves and voices on continuous gender scales.
• Men and those with higher masculine identity perceived voices as less masculine.
• Women and those with higher feminine identity were more flexible in gender perception.
• Increase in “other” gender identity facilitates “other” voice gender perception.
• Gender expansive people have a distinct “neutral” voice gender reference point.
Abstract:
Few studies on voice perception have attempted to address the complexity of gender perception of ambiguous voices. The current study investigated how perception of gender varies with the complexity of the listener’s own gender conception and identity. We explicitly recruited participants of all genders, including those who are gender expansive (i.e. transgender and/or non-binary), and directed them to rate ambiguous synthetic voices on three independent scales of masculine, feminine, and “other” (and to select one or multiple categorical labels for them). Gender expansive listeners were more likely to use the entire expanse of the rating scales and showed systematic categorization of gender-neutral voices as non-binary. We propose this is due to repeated use of reflective processes that challenge pre-existing gender categories and the incorporation of this decision-making process into their reflexive system. Because voice gender influences speech perception, the perceptual experience of gender expansive listeners may influence perceptual flexibility in speech.
Description
This article was originally published in Brain and Language. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.105049.© 2021. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Keywords
gender perception, perceptual flexibility, gender expansive, transgender, non-binary, voice gender, speech perception
Citation
Hope, Maxwell, and Jason Lilley. “Gender Expansive Listeners Utilize a Non-Binary, Multidimensional Conception of Gender to Inform Voice Gender Perception.” Brain and Language 224 (January 1, 2022): 105049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2021.105049.