During puberty, a surge of sex hormones causes vocal folds to lengthen and build up muscle, more so for boys who experience a spike in testosterone at this time. Substantial vocal folds also explain why men tend to have deeper voices than women. “The larynx is a sexual organ, because it’s very different between one sex to the other and that has to do with how much testosterone there is compared to other hormones that balance it out,” Titze told Fatherly, adding that testosterone levels shape the length and musculature of the vocal folds, which vibrate to produce sound and ultimately dictate pitch. But the discrepancy does explain why some men aren’t all about that bass. High-pitched voices exist thanks to vocal cords that aren’t as long, strong, or ready for good vibrations as others, Ingo Titze, executive director of the National Center for Voice and Speech, told Fatherly.
