The new Raise Your Voice issue of Real Girl Puberty magazine is hot off the (digital) press and readers aren’t keeping quiet. I’m overwhelmed by the support the magazine issue is receiving. I chose the Raise Your Voice theme for the magazine because “loss of voice” was a significant part of my personal puberty experience. I had no idea it was an actual phenomenon though.
“Loss of Voice” Phenomenon
What is the “loss of voice” phenomenon? According to Deborah A. Cihonski loss of voice, “can be described as an experience when a person has something she or he feels is important to say but does not say it (Cihonski 5).” That person is often an adolescent girl. And in my experience, it doesn’t even have to be something “important” to say.
The loss of voice experience can be a short episodic event or it can last for years. Some girls can grow out of it and excel in areas of self-expression. Other girls will carry it around with them for years, or even the rest of their lives. The hard part for me to grasp is that these girls don’t know what they’re experiencing or why. If you don’t know the what and why it’s impossible to improve the situation.
What can we do?
The loss of voice phenomenon may be a known thing in the science and scholarly world, but how many puberty moms and girls are aware of it? Even if you’ve experienced it yourself, you were probably unaware that it had a name. That’s why talking about it is the first step to supporting our girls in using and keeping their voices. Take these actions to start a conversation today.
- If you haven’t read the Raise Your Voice issue yet, make sure you get a copy and share it with your puberty girl. There’s a 30 day ‘Raise Your Voice’ challenge that will help you explore and monitor how much the loss of voice phenomenon is playing a role in your and your daughter’s life.
- Join the Puberty Party for Moms community. The January 2022 content is all about Raising Your Voice and access is free until the end of this month (January 2022).
- Do more reading and researching. Here are a couple of links to get you started:
How We Can Help Young Girls Stay Assertive
The Experience of Loss of Voice in Adolescent Girls: An Existential-Phenomenological Study
Work Cited: Cihonski, Deborah A. The Experience of Loss of Voice in Adolescent Girls: An Existential-Phenomenological Study. Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 22 May 2003, p. 5. Digital Commons University of South Florida, University of South Florida Scholar Commons, https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/1342/. Accessed January 2022.
