Here’s what voice science is telling us:
1. Men are more attracted to women with higher voices.
2.We are more likely to vote for women with deeper voices.
So if sex sells, can we surmise that Hillary Clinton lost out on a few votes? We can at least say that she was unfairly criticized because of her voice. She was called shrill. Screechy. Nagging.
And when Brit Hume from Fox News said that Hillary “has a not-so-attractive voice“, we of course see that as a criticism. But in fact I suppose he’s right. That’s why she got elected in the first place. If it were an attractive voice according to the studies, then it would likely be higher pitched. High-pitched voices don’t get elected. Seems unfair, but welcome to womanhood. Lo and behold, you can’t have it all. When it comes to your voice, you can either be electable, or attractive. But apparently not both.
So, when I hear Hillary Clinton at 21 years old with a whole lot of head voice (that men find attractive), I think yeah, sure, it’s nice enough to listen to, but I probably wouldn’t vote for her. And something told Hillary the same thing. So she changed. She decided to become electable, consciously or not. That’s how the voice works. We make changes as we go, usually subconsciously. Sometimes those changes work out for the best. Sometimes we regret them. (Which is where I suspect vocal fry will end up in about 10 years, but I digress.)
And society changed. In these modern times, North American society doesn’t have a lot of respect for women who speak exclusively in head voice. Think of Melanie Griffith’s character in Working Girl.
They all thought she was sexy, but no one was going to promote her.
Here’s Hillary still in head voice in 1983
So she adapts.
Hello society, you only respect deeper voices? All right then! Here’s my chest voice. I’ll use it as much as I possibly can. Hey! I got elected! Well that worked out great!
Except for when they say she sounds like she’s lecturing or combative. “You should sound softer! Kinder! Gentler!”
Also, Hillary got older. That tends to happen with humans. (Crazy!) Both aging and using chest voice lower women’s voices. This article does a great job of explaining the science behind Hillary’s changing and adapting voice. Kudos to the author for tracking down voice scientist Ingo Titze. He really knows this stuff. The good thing about lowering your voice is that it gets you elected. But the problem is, and Ingo Titze wrote this to me in an email a few years back, the problem with women using primarily chest voice (WHICH GOT THEM ELECTED), is that “Women will be at a disadvantage if they lower their speaking pitch to the male speaking range. The generally smaller female larynx drives less airflow, which means females will likely “press” more to increase their vocal power. This comes at a cost.”
What is the cost? Ingo, what is the cost?!
Well, it’s that when they try to get louder, when they want to increase their vocal power, women who use chest voice tend to press their voice. And that can make her sound Annoying! (Thank you Sonny Bunch.) Or Screechy! (Thank you Joel Achenbach.) Or like she has a Very Average Scream! (Thank you Donald Trump). Oh hey, speaking of the Donald, guess who else presses his voice?
Standing in front of a crowd of thousands, it’s pretty hard not to want to increase your vocal power. Sure, there’s a microphone, but it’s thousands of people! When Hillary or Donald are in front of a crowd, they press their voices. But very different things come up when you google Hillary Clinton Voice and Donald Trump Voice. (That is the “sexist double standard” part of all this.) And after years of pressing a voice, it can become more and more hoarse. Indeed, there is a cost.
I’d like to suggest that criticizing Hillary Clinton for using her chest voice is like criticizing a giraffe for having a long neck.
Giraffe! Sure, you can now eat leaves from the tops of trees, but come on! It’s SO HARD for you to bend down and drink water. The lions might get you! What were you thinking?!
And the giraffe’s all like, “Dude, I was thinking about NOT DYING OF HUNGER.” My long neck is what helps me survive! I didn’t really consider the water-drinking, but I guess I’ll just have to take my chances.
Yeah, but you might get eaten by LIONS!
Yeah, but I wouldn’t even BE HERE if not for my long neck.
The giraffe adapted.
The lions can only take you down if you actually exist. But first you gotta survive.
Bottom line, maybe we need to stop criticizing the giraffe for having such a long neck. It’s what got her this far.
Do you press your voice? Ingo Titze has something that can help: