Growing up throughout my childhood I will admit that I have been a victim of verbal bullying. I mean people have prank called me, written songs about me, taunted me, you name it, and it’s happened. Even the telemarketer that calls and goes Mr. Last name or Thank you Sir. Why? Because I have a deep voice for a woman. Okay, let me try and make sense of this now as a 22 year old and I will dissect the problem here, of why I was bullied.
For starters, yes, my voice is relatively deeper than probably 75% of the female population. Does that make them normal and me abnormal? According to critics, I suppose. Secondly, my voice is sort of raspy. Does that make me weird? According to critics, I suppose. Lastly, I cannot get over the fact that countless upon countless amounts of times people look at my in the face and see that I am a female, and yet, tell me I sound like a man? Does that make me helpless? According to critics, I suppose.
While young, yes this was disturbing. It would bother me so much so that I have, upon multiple occasions, asked my mom for surgery to get a new voice box. (Writing this now makes me laugh!) Now that I am aspiring to get into Entertainment News and Sports Hosting/Broadcasting, I am happy to realize that people actually prefer the deeper and raspier female voice to a counter higher voice for this field. Not to say that it matters so much of what others think of you, but it is certainly important to take note of what the industry (and those who may ultimately hire you) are looking for, exactly.
It is extremely encouraging when people tell me, “Wow, your voice is deep and made for news. It’s not like one of those annoying screechy voices.” How ironic, right? To go from being made fun of, to hopefully one day getting the job of my dreams and having those listening to me actually appreciate my voice. I’d say that’s a true 180!
Looking back at this through a much wider lens, I have to say I was quite foolish. How did I let the power of what others thought about me grow stronger than my own personal thoughts? How did I allow what others say and do completely distract me lead me to believe that I am so abstract? This is the phenomenon of bullying. Verbal abuse is no fun and when you are a woman that is being told you sound like a guy, that is truly low.
We as women are allowed to have deeper voices. We should not be stereotyped as the gender with the annoying screechy voice. We should feel empowered to enjoy the facts of life that were handed to us. Sure I’ve been down and out about this sensitive subject. Sure it still irks me when I still get the jokes from time to time from ignorant people. Of course the thoughts still rush through my head of how I was treated in the past and how it was completely ridiculous that people made me have a fear of opening up my mouth.
However, I am so thankful for the voice that I have and I wouldn’t change it for the world! I am proud to call myself a strong and empowered female who overcame the hardcore jabs from people who don’t care about my feelings. I hope someday I am able to get on TV and inspire people with originality and flavor to their tone and voice. Those who look different, who sound different act different, whatever deviates from the norm in society, there is without a doubt a place in the industry for them too! And also, being normal is boring!
Kate Guberman was born in Moscow, Russia. Growing up in America allowed her to be completely surrounded by a society that is filled with entertainment and media. She aspired to be an entertainment and news host and has big dreams of taking her knowledge of pop culture to an entirely new level.
touching story of a girl who was bullied in school for having a deep voice.Urgh makes me so mad #bullies still exist! http://t.co/doaMk5q2lm
Ditto. I hardly spoke at school because of it. People would shout my name in an ultra gruff, deep voice. At uni, I managed to make my voice sound higher, although lapsed on a few occasions where people called me “Mr” over the phone. I’m trying to get my old voice back now, 16 years later, as I no longer care what people think. It’s hard to though and I wished I’d have been stronger and embraced my gift all those years ago.
Thank you for sharing your story. It would have been good to read something like this when I was younger.
I have a low voice because my tonsels got removed when I was little, I was born 16 weeks premature and I get bullied everyday. Even by guys 🙁 I just want a guy to like me for me but no one can see that. Now I grow up thinking I won’t even be in a relationship because of my voice
I know how you feel. I always worry about this because of my deep voice. I get called man voice a lot.
I can already tell you’re an amazing girl. Those people are just too stupid to understand something as magnificent as you.
Thank-you so much for writing this article, I use to feel the exact same way, but normally the thing you are coaxed to fear is the actual thing you were built to use…… you will for sure make it one day! I did!! 🙂
I have a deep voice too! Same way with u I get bullied. I once wanted to do a YouTube video but I was afraid people would make fun of my voice.
I have a deep voice as well. Some people can accept me and some can’t.
cheer up! i have a deep voice too. many people made fun of my voice but who cares? its how god created us. and we have to deal with it.
I am 24 and I have a somewhat deep voice and it can easily sound masculine if I am lazy. For my ethnicity, it’s pretty common for women to have a deeper voice. Sometimes I am still very self-conscious about it, other times I don’t really care. Sometimes I sound nasally too so I have to avoid speaking through my nose and force the sound to come through my chest more. Not sure if I’m describing this right, but you might get the idea.
If vocal surgery weren’t so risky, I’d get it done just to move the pitch just a little higher. In the meantime, I just have to be thankful for what I have and put in a bit of effort whenever I speak. As I get used to it, it feels more natural to speak at a higher pitch. The cool part is that I am able to try different voices from super high to super low, like how comedians or cartoon voice overs. I can also make myself sound very sexy and turn guys on.
I always sounded and looked very mature for my age. I got made fun of a lot from 12-16. I was also very terrified of singing in front of people and I still am. I practice singing when no one is around and it has gotten better since I know my ranges. I still won’t sing front of people though.
Now that I’m 24 people are less likely to say anything. Sometimes I hear a few people laughing whenever I speak, especially if they don’t hear me speak very often. When I am around a group of people for the first time sometimes I avoid speaking altogether. Other times I really don’t care, but depends on my mood.
Im glad I’m not the only one! My voice is more of a 15 year old boy in a 26 year old woman. I encountered many types of rude remarks. I’m a gamer and I do talk a lot on a mic! Guys and girls alike won’t believe that I’m a girl. I just leave it at where it is and tell them believe what ever you want I know I’m a girl. It gets frustrating and embarrassing. I tried to practice my voice box to make myself sound more feminine but I feel what I’m doing to my voice is not me feel like I’m being untrue to myself. Haha I’m just glad there’s other girls, ladies, and woman who has the same issue and I don’t feel alone. Now it doesn’t bother me as much. I just shrug it off and go on with my life! <3
I have a deeper voice than most, female and Greek originally.
I like this ur story helps me i am 15 years old i have been bullied by kids and teachers have gave me crap about my voice i have a very quite voice and it is raspy and deep too…. i can really fix it by my self i want to change it so bad cuz it sucks when you meet someone and the first thing that the ask is are you sick or whats wrong with your voice… i dont know what to do should i get it fixed or what. I really hate repeating things over and over cuz they cant hear me and then i get mad a have to *yell it* whitch only comes out a normal voice… and it sounds rude i really dont know what to do any advice.
I was bullied for my deep voice. And also for other stuff, the many years of bullying left a deep mental scar on me and after finishing Dutch high school I was diagnosed with multiple anxiety disorders. I still hate my voice, but lately, some guys told me they really liked my voice.