Week 13 Muted Group Theory

The muted group theory has its origin from another professional area which is the anthropology field by a social anthropologists Edwin and Shirley Ardener. They explained that in the area of enthnography, most social anthropologist would rely on findings from the men and not the women in a particular culture. Hence, the creation of the theory.

Ardener (2005) stated that the muted group theory does not really revolve primarily on women, despite them being the most obvious victims. Therefore this theory can be applied to other groups in society as well who are basically not heard. Orbe (1998) also stated that this muted group theory can also be applied to other non-dominant groups such as the homosexual individuals or any subordinate group that co-exist with a dominant group in society.

Griffin (2012, pg 461) defines muted group as the " people belonging to low power groups who must change their language when communicating publicly, thus, their ideas are often overlooked".

It was Cheris Kramarae who is basically the main theorist when it comes to the area of communication study.  She provided an extension to this theory where she stated that women are at a disadvantage when it comes to language. Kramarae explains that language is benefiting its creator which is man. She continues stating that 'language is literally a man-made construction.' (Griffin 2012, pg. 460) Therefore for women to be heard, they need to adapt to the ways of men. Such as speaking like men to be heard.

For this theory, I will use cartoons characters such as Ariel from Little Mermaid, Princess Jasmine from Alladdin and Snow White.

Referring to the examples, what do they all have in common?


Griffin (2012) stated that Kramarae discovered women in cartoons to be "emotional, apologetic or just plain wishy-washy" (pg. 460). This is true with references to the examples above. How all those Disney female characters Ariel, Jasmine and Snow White are all what Kramarae discovered to be.

I personally would agree that it is somewhat true that language can benefit men at most times compared to women. However there are women who are not even considered muted. Those women as such as Condolezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Both have influence in society and that they are even more powerful than most men. It seems to be that there are other factors other than language that may affect a women's position in society. They do not even have to talk like a man or even dressed like one to be heard.

West and Turner (2010) explains that this Muted Group Theory is 'provocative and causes us to think about biases in language.' (pg. 499) This is true as it is evident as stated by Kramarae. Therefore it helps us realise on which aspects do women experience problems in expressing their needs.

References:

Ardener, S., (2005) Muted Group Theory Excerpts. Women and Language, Vol. 28, No. 2, Pg. 50-54.

Griffin, E., (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory (8th Edition). New York. McGraw Hill.


Orbe, M. P. (1998). Constructing co-cultural theory:An explication of culture, power, and communication. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

West, R., Turner, L., H., (2010) Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application (4th Edition). New York. McGraw Hill.