Muted Group Theory developed out of the cultural anthropology field, but more recently has been developed in communication mostly as a feminist and cross-cultural theory. Muted group theory helps explain communication patterns and social representation of non-dominant cultural groups.

Background

The basis for muted group theory comes from the work of two cultural anthropologists, Shirley and Edwin Ardener

Edwin Ardener

Edwin Ardener was a British social anthropologist and academic. He was also noted for his contributions to the study of history. Within anthropology, some of his most important contributions were to the study of gender, as in his 1975 work in which he described women as "muted" in social...

, in the 1970s: In Perceiving Women (1975), they made the observation that most other cultural anthropologists practicing ethnography in the field were only talking to the leaders of the cultures, who were generally adult males. The researchers would then use this data to represent the culture as a whole, leaving out the perspectives of women, children and other groups made voiceless by the cultural hierarchy. Edwin Ardener wrote: “Those trained in ethnography evidently have a bias towards the kinds of model that men are ready to provide (or to concur in) rather than towards any that women might provide. If the men appear ‘articulate’ compared with the women, it is a case of like speaking to like” (p. 2). As Em Griffin wrote in his book A First Look at Communication Theory: Shirley Ardener also included that the muted group theory does not indicate that the muted group is actually mute but that they are instead hushed by society. This idea translates into the thought, does a muted group have the ability to speak the way they wish to speak or must they translate their thoughts and actions into a more understood and accepted form for society. Ardener states, "muted structures are ‘there’ but cannot be ‘realized’ in the language of the dominant structure." (p.455)

Muted group theory and communication

Cheris Kramarae is the main theorist behind the muted group theory for the study of communications. She was a former professor, and director of Women’s Studies, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has also had many visiting professor and lecturer appointments some being in China, The Netherlands, England, South Africa, and Germany. She also served as the international dean at the International Women’s University. Her main idea of the muted group theory is that our communication was created by men and still allows them to have an advantage over women. Women must constantly play within the rules of a man’s language never having their own words to express their thoughts.
Kramarae states, “The language of a particular culture does not serve all its speakers equally, for not all speakers contribute in an equal fashion to its formulation. Women (and members of other subordinate groups) are not as free or as able as men are to say what they wish, because the words and the norms for their use have been formulated by the dominant group, men (p. 454).

Muted Group Theory In Cartoons

Kramarae's first research on the muted group theory was when she analyzed cartoons. She executed this research in 1974. Kramarae noted that women were almost non existent in cartoons. She also claims that the female characters in cartoons had characteristics such as being: emotional, apologetic, and wishy-washy. These characters are also not very prominent in the cartoons. The females are illustrated as being vague and flowery, and the artists used adjectives like "nice" and "pretty" to describe them (p. 454).

The Control Men Have Over Communication

Kramarae believes that men control communication this is due to the fact that men created our language. This leaves women at a disadvantage because they are always using a man’s words to describe female thoughts and feelings. Using men’s words is a disadvantage to women because kramarae believes that “ women perceive the world differently from men because of women’s and man’s different experience and activities rooted in the division of labor” (p. 456).

Kramarae also explains that men’s control over language has produced an abundance of derogatory words for women and their speech patterns. Some of these include names such as sluts, whore, easy lay and speech patterns such as gossiping, whining, and bitching. Men, however have much fewer names to describe them and most of them seen in a positive sexual light. These include words such as stud, player, and pimp (p. 465). These harmful words Kramarae suggests shape our reality. She believes that “words constantly ignored may eventually come to be unspoken and perhaps even unthought.” This will lead women to doubt themselves and the intentions of their feelings (p. 465).

Kramarae also says that women need to choose their words carefully in public. This is because according to Kramarae “what women want to say and can say best cannot be said easily because the language template is not of their own making” (p.459). “Another example of this male-dominated language Kramarae brings up is that in public speaking, women most often use sports and war analogies (things most women do not usually associate themselves to) in order to relate to their male audiences. Women do this to accomplish their objectives of getting ahead in life. This, they feel, is difficult if they do not gear their speech toward men, using words and analogies to which they can relate. This stems from the market being dominated by males for so long. Almost all prominent authors, theorists, and scientists have historically been male. This allows for them to give women the "facts" they should believe about society and life in general."

Kramarae believes that “males have more difficulty than females in understanding what members of the other gender mean.” She believes that men do not have a clue about women because they have not made the effort to find out. Dale Spender of Woman’s Studies International Quarterly gave insight into Kramarae’s statement by adding the idea that many men realize by listening to women they would be revoking some of their power and privilege. “The crucial issue here is that if women cease to be muted, men cease to be so dominant and to some males this may seem unfair because it represents a loss of rights.” I man can easily avoid this issue by simply stating “I’ll never understand women” (p.461).

Gate Keepers

“Gatekeepers are editors and other arbiters of culture who determine which books, essays, poetry, plays, film scripts, etc. will appear in the mass media.” According to Kramarae women were locked out of the publishing business until 1970 this means that women lacked influence on all mass media. Men being the gatekeepers were able to use the media to their advantage while muting females (p.457).

Muted Group Theory and the Internet

Kramarae has performed research about the internet to examine if men gatekeep and control such a widely used device. Kramarae’s research leads to the belief that the traditional set up of the muted group theory exists on the internet as well. This is because almost all of the original creators of the internet in the 1970s and 1980s were male. Today there is about a 50/50 split on internet usage between men and women however, all of the bones of the software and the setup of the internet is masculine. Also men dominate technology fields causing women to continue being marginalized. Also, many of the metaphors used to describe the internet are masculine. These masculine terms such as information superhighway, new frontier, and global community affect the way that the muted group feels about the internet (p.457-458).

A Feminist Dictionary

Kramarae states that in order to change muted group status we also need to change dictionaries. This is because traditional dictionaries rely on the majority of their information to come from male literary sources. These male sources have the power to exclude words important to or created by women. In 1985 Kramarae and Paula Treichler compiled a feminist dictionary that offers definitions for words that do not appear in the dictionary as well as alternate definitions for feminists. They include up to 2,500 words in order to emphasize women’s linguistic ability and to give women words to empower them and change their muted status (p.461)

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is an unwanted imposition of sexual requirements in the context of a relationship of unequal power. Sexual harassment is the only legal term defined by women according to Kramarae. It was first used in a court case in the late 1970’s (p.463).

Muted group theory across cultures

Mark Orbe is a communication theorist who has extended Kramarae’s work in muted group theory to African-American males and other groups made up of various cultures. Orbe, in his articles “African-American communication research: Toward a deeper understanding of interethnic communication” (1995) and “Constructing co-cultural theory: An explication of culture, power, and communication” (1998), fleshed out two important extensions of muted group theory:

• Muting as described in muted group theory can be applied to many cultural groups. Orbe (1995) stated that research performed by the dominant white European culture has created a view of African-American communication “which promotes the illusion that all African-Americans, regardless of gender, age, class, or sexual orientation, communicate in a similar manner” (p. 2).

• There is not just one way that members of a muted group can deal with their position within the dominant culture. Orbe identified 26 different acts that members of muted groups choose from in dealing with the structures and messages of the dominant society. Orbe says that which act is chosen depends on previous experiences, context, the individual’s abilities and perceived costs and rewards. Some examples of these acts that members of muted groups can choose from are: emphasizing commonalities and downplaying cultural differences, educating others about norms of the muted group, and avoiding members of the dominant group.

In developing a "Co-Cultural Communication Theory

Co-Cultural Communication Theory

Co-cultural communication theory was built upon the frameworks of muted group theory and standpoint theory. The cornerstone of Co-cultural communication theory is Muted Group theory as proposed in the mid 1970’s by Shirley and Edwin Ardener...

," Orbe focuses on how different underpresented group members negotiate their muted group status. According to his work, this constant negotiation includes remaining muted, but also identifies the diverse ways in which individuals gain voice in different contexts.

Critiques of Muted Group Theory

Deborah Tannen the theorist that created genderlect theory criticizes feminist scholars like Kramarae for assuming that men are trying to control women. Tannen acknowledges that differences in male and female communication styles sometimes lead to inbalances of power, but unlike Kramarae, she is willing to assume that the problems are caused primarily by men’s and women’s different styles. Foot note 36 Tannen warms readers that “bad feelings and imputation of bad motives or bad character can come about when there was no intentions to dominate, to wield power (p.464).