Why do modern women speak in artifically deeper voices?

Question

I have noticed this from observing female news reporters, female politicians, professors etc.

Why do women feel that they have to kill every single nurturing maternal female attribute in order to gain positions of leadership?

If they become exactly like the "evil" men (and in many cases even worse, since they are more prone to "catiness" than men), how is this progress for human society?

Answer 1

ha ha ha. you are confused, my friend. these women's voices are natural, and actually, in radio and television, slightly deeper voices are thought to sound better on air. hence, the reason more women on television, etc, have deeper voices.

are you a conspiracy theorist or something? you think women would just go through their entire lives talking in a lower pitch to reject their "maternal" characteristics? fat chance.

Answer 2

I haven't noticed women intentionally speaking in deeper voices--some women naturally have deep voices. Maybe women with deep voices tend to get more public jobs. I know my voice is deeper than many women's, and it's not something I necessarily like--often, I wish it were higher. I don't think high voices are any more nuturing than low ones though, lol. In fact, I've noticed that when I speak naturally in my low voice, I tend to be more soothing to kids--try reading a book to kids in a low voice: they'll fall asleep much faster than if you use a higher voice!

The reality is that women often have to make compromises to gain jobs at all, much less positions of leadership. Many women hope that, once they are in positions of leadership, they can use those positions to work for equality for women. And I don't know any women who want to become exactly like men--we just want the opportunities that men have and we deserve. In the meantime, we deal with the reality that compromises are sometimes necessary. And it's a myth that women or feminists in general consider men "evil." Discrimination is evil, but not all men discriminate. That's like saying Martin Luther King Jr. thought all white people were evil.

Answer 3

Sheez, try consciously attracted. Deep voices can practically make me swoon. And yeah, it's a totally superficial generalization. I think stuff like that is just a natural result of sexual difference, a synergy of the two facts 1) [straight]women are attracted to men and 2) men tend to have deeper voices. There isn't anything intelligent you can say about what deep voices "signal" to women, nor about what high voices "signal" to men. Too many cultural assumptions would be involved. They just point to sexual difference, which can be a source of arousal for its own sake.

Answer 4

Interesting. Well studies have been done that show that women train themselves to speak in higher voices relative to their vocal range and men speak in lower tones. This is society's conditioning.
However, from personal experience, there is truth to your statement. Because the nature of business/leadership positions, one needs to act as credible as possible. Like it or not, acting girly, or even nuturing / maternal (which is not a characteristic in every woman btw), is not going to get me respect as a manager or as an engineer (my profession).
This doesn't mean acting like a man, but it means acting like a professional and acting like those in a similar profession: Serious, with a firm voice, and asserting myself with confidence.
Why would a woman in a leadership role feel any need to act as a 'mom' in her job? A true profesional separates their personal life from their professional life.

Btw - men aren't evil, women in leadership roles have simply adapted to make themselves taken seriously.

Answer 5

lol...
i've seen some female news anchors do this, but i'd hardly made generalizing statements about women in general based on a few female news anchors.

and how is the higher pitched female voice a "nurturing maternal female attribute"??? it's actually higher pitched (more like a child's) so that *men* feel more protective of women (like they do kids). so, assuming that women in general *do* speak in artificially lower voices... why *wouldn't* a woman trying to gain a position of power try to stifle the protective instincts of the men around her? (they might think they need to protect her from all that stress & pressure, thereby not allowing her to reach her full potential).

oh, and we all know that by working, women are going to become *exactly* like men in every way (of course we'll hang on to that *one* "female" attribute of being "catty")
::rolls my eyes::

Answer 6

I think you are confusing the natural reaction of the voice to projection with "artificially deeper voices." When one projects the voice from the diaphragm in order to reach an audience, as all of the people you describe would likely do, then it naturally sounds lower than when one speaks in a more conversational tone.

Answer 7

Especially,after a Life of too many drunken College nights and initiations in Broadhood sororities.

Seriously,
Women have higher testosterone levels since 40 years or so,must be a counterbalance reaction of their metabolism,given the amount of estrogen growth hormones in food.It is not their fault.
Men become sterile or with a lower sperm count,and their voices are higher in pitch(Charlie Sheen like) for the same reasons but without triggering higher testosterone.The ones they do,become criminals,another collateral damage of food manipulation.

Answer 8

I have a naturally deep voice, akin to Kathleen Turner's voice, but it comes from having parents who smoked two packs of cigarettes apiece while I was growing up.

The deeper voice comes from nodules on the vocal chords.

Answer 9

well, i have a very soft, ultra-girly voice and i cannot tell you how tired i get of people commenting on it. some won't even take me seriously because my voice sounds so child-like. i don't use that voice on purpose, i cannot help it! i tried to change it, but realized that ultimately, i don't give a damn!

Answer 10

They're not trying to make their voices deeper, they're just projecting. If you had to speak to a room full of people, you'd project too.