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Muted Group Theory
Cheris Kramarae

CULTURAL CONTEXT: GENDER AND COMMUNICATION

Chapter 36
 Standpoint Theory
Communication Theory 
Chapter 36
 Standpoint Theory
Communication Theory 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. Introduction.
    1. To Cheris Kramarae, language is a man-made construction.
    2. Women’s words and thoughts are discounted in our society.
    3. When women try to overcome this inequity, the masculine control of communication places them at a disadvantage.
    4. Women are a muted group because man-made language aids in defining, depreciating, and excluding them.
    5. Kramarae began her research studying gender bias in cartoons.
  2. Muted groups: Black holes in someone else’s universe.
    1. Edwin Ardener first proposed that women are a muted group.
    2. He noted that many ethnographers claimed to have “cracked the code” of a culture without referencing female speech.
    3. He and Shirley Ardener discovered that mutedness is caused by the lack of power that besets any group of low status.
    4. He claimed that muted groups are “black holes” because they are overlooked, muffled, and rendered invisible.
    5. Shirley Ardener argues that the key issue is whether people can say what they want to say when and where they want to say it, or must they re-encode their thoughts to make them understood in the public domain?
    6. Kramarae’s extension of the Ardeners’ initial concept explores why women are muted and how to free them.
    7. She argues that the public-private distinction in language exaggerates gender differences, poses separate sexual spheres of activity, and devalues private communication.
  3. The masculine power to name experience.
    1. Kramarae’s basic assumption is that women perceive the world differently from men because of women’s and men’s different experiences and activities rooted in the division of labor.
    2. Kramarae argues that because of their political dominance, men’s system of perception is dominant, impeding the free expression of women’s alternative models of the world.
    3. Men’s control of the dominant mode of expression has produced a vast stock of derogatory, gender-specific terms to refer to women’s talking.
    4. There are also more words to describe sexually promiscuous women than men.
    5. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that muted women may come to doubt the validity of their experience and the legitimacy of their feelings.
  4. Men as the gatekeepers of communication.
    1. Kramarae believes that even if the public mode of expression contained a rich vocabulary to describe feminine experience, women would still be muted if their modes of expression were ignored or ridiculed.
      1. The cultural establishment virtually excludes women’s art, poetry, plays, film, and so forth.
      2. Mainstream communication is “malestream” expression.
    2. Authors such as Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Smith have argued that women have not been given their rightful place in history. 
    3. Kramarae cites the politics surrounding her change of name as an example of male control.
  5. Speaking women’s truth in men’s talk: The problem of translation.
    1. Kramarae believes that in order to participate in society, women must transform their own models in terms of the received male system of expression.
    2. This translation process requires constant effort and leaves women wondering if they said it right.
  6. Speaking out in private: Networking with women.
    1. Kramarae believes that females are likely to find ways to express themselves outside the dominant public modes of expression used by males.
    2. She labels women’s outlets the female “sub-version” that runs beneath the surface of male orthodoxy.
    3. She is convinced that males have more difficulty than females understanding what members of the other gender mean because they haven’t made the effort.
    4. Dale Spender hypothesizes that men realize that listening to women would involve a renunciation of their privileged position.
  7. Enriching the lexicon: A feminist dictionary.
    1. The ultimate goal of muted group theory is to change the man-made linguistic system that oppresses women.
    2. Such reform includes challenging sexist dictionaries.
    3. Kramarae and Paula Treichler compiled a feminist dictionary.
  8. Sexual harassment: Coining a term to label experience.
    1. The popularization of the term sexual harassment represents a great victory for feminist communication scholarship—encoding women’s experience into the received language of society.
    2. Although unwanted sexual attention is not new, until recently it went unnamed.
    3. The battle over sexual harassment is as much a struggle over language as it is over sexual conduct.
  9. Co-cultural theory: How muted groups talk to dominant groups
    1. Kramarae acknowledges that women aren’t the only muted group.
    2. Through his research with “people of color, women, gay/lesbian/bisexuals, and those from a lower socioeconomic status,” Mark Orbe discovered that how a member of muted group communicates with the dominant culture depends on their preferred outcome, or goal for the interaction. He found three common goals.
      1. One goal is assimilation, or blending in with the dominant group.
      2. A second option is separation, or minimizing any contact with the dominant group.
      3. A third approach is accommodation, or trying to persuade the dominant culture to “change the rules so that they incorporate the life experiences” of muted groups.
      4. The theory recognizes that the best choice depends on the unique circumstances of the co-culture.
  10. Critique: Do men mean to mute?
    1. Muted group theory stands up well to the criteria important for good critical scholarship: understanding people, clarifying values, and reforming society.
    2. Readers may be uncomfortable with her characterization of men as oppressors and women as oppressed yet Kramarae argues that such labels may be necessary to foster discussion.
    3. Her perspective on men’s motives is contested by scholars such as Tannen.

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Instructors can get additional
resources. Read more













TEXT COMPARE

Archived chapters (PDF)
from previous editions
are available in
Resources by Type.
See list

New to Theory
Resources?
Find out more in this short
video overview (3:01).


Muted Group Theory
Cheris Kramarae

CULTURAL CONTEXT: GENDER AND COMMUNICATION

Chapter 36
 Standpoint Theory
Communication Theory 
Chapter 36
 Standpoint Theory
Communication Theory 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. Introduction.
    1. To Cheris Kramarae, language is a man-made construction.
    2. Women’s words and thoughts are discounted in our society.
    3. When women try to overcome this inequity, the masculine control of communication places them at a disadvantage.
    4. Women are a muted group because man-made language aids in defining, depreciating, and excluding them.
    5. Kramarae began her research studying gender bias in cartoons.
  2. Muted groups: Black holes in someone else’s universe.
    1. Edwin Ardener first proposed that women are a muted group.
    2. He noted that many ethnographers claimed to have “cracked the code” of a culture without referencing female speech.
    3. He and Shirley Ardener discovered that mutedness is caused by the lack of power that besets any group of low status.
    4. He claimed that muted groups are “black holes” because they are overlooked, muffled, and rendered invisible.
    5. Shirley Ardener argues that the key issue is whether people can say what they want to say when and where they want to say it, or must they re-encode their thoughts to make them understood in the public domain?
    6. Kramarae’s extension of the Ardeners’ initial concept explores why women are muted and how to free them.
    7. She argues that the public-private distinction in language exaggerates gender differences, poses separate sexual spheres of activity, and devalues private communication.
  3. The masculine power to name experience.
    1. Kramarae’s basic assumption is that women perceive the world differently from men because of women’s and men’s different experiences and activities rooted in the division of labor.
    2. Kramarae argues that because of their political dominance, men’s system of perception is dominant, impeding the free expression of women’s alternative models of the world.
    3. Men’s control of the dominant mode of expression has produced a vast stock of derogatory, gender-specific terms to refer to women’s talking.
    4. There are also more words to describe sexually promiscuous women than men.
    5. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that muted women may come to doubt the validity of their experience and the legitimacy of their feelings.
  4. Men as the gatekeepers of communication.
    1. Kramarae believes that even if the public mode of expression contained a rich vocabulary to describe feminine experience, women would still be muted if their modes of expression were ignored or ridiculed.
      1. The cultural establishment virtually excludes women’s art, poetry, plays, film, and so forth.
      2. Mainstream communication is “malestream” expression.
    2. Authors such as Virginia Woolf and Dorothy Smith have argued that women have not been given their rightful place in history. 
    3. Kramarae cites the politics surrounding her change of name as an example of male control.
  5. Speaking women’s truth in men’s talk: The problem of translation.
    1. Kramarae believes that in order to participate in society, women must transform their own models in terms of the received male system of expression.
    2. This translation process requires constant effort and leaves women wondering if they said it right.
  6. Speaking out in private: Networking with women.
    1. Kramarae believes that females are likely to find ways to express themselves outside the dominant public modes of expression used by males.
    2. She labels women’s outlets the female “sub-version” that runs beneath the surface of male orthodoxy.
    3. She is convinced that males have more difficulty than females understanding what members of the other gender mean because they haven’t made the effort.
    4. Dale Spender hypothesizes that men realize that listening to women would involve a renunciation of their privileged position.
  7. Enriching the lexicon: A feminist dictionary.
    1. The ultimate goal of muted group theory is to change the man-made linguistic system that oppresses women.
    2. Such reform includes challenging sexist dictionaries.
    3. Kramarae and Paula Treichler compiled a feminist dictionary.
  8. Sexual harassment: Coining a term to label experience.
    1. The popularization of the term sexual harassment represents a great victory for feminist communication scholarship—encoding women’s experience into the received language of society.
    2. Although unwanted sexual attention is not new, until recently it went unnamed.
    3. The battle over sexual harassment is as much a struggle over language as it is over sexual conduct.
  9. Co-cultural theory: How muted groups talk to dominant groups
    1. Kramarae acknowledges that women aren’t the only muted group.
    2. Through his research with “people of color, women, gay/lesbian/bisexuals, and those from a lower socioeconomic status,” Mark Orbe discovered that how a member of muted group communicates with the dominant culture depends on their preferred outcome, or goal for the interaction. He found three common goals.
      1. One goal is assimilation, or blending in with the dominant group.
      2. A second option is separation, or minimizing any contact with the dominant group.
      3. A third approach is accommodation, or trying to persuade the dominant culture to “change the rules so that they incorporate the life experiences” of muted groups.
      4. The theory recognizes that the best choice depends on the unique circumstances of the co-culture.
  10. Critique: Do men mean to mute?
    1. Muted group theory stands up well to the criteria important for good critical scholarship: understanding people, clarifying values, and reforming society.
    2. Readers may be uncomfortable with her characterization of men as oppressors and women as oppressed yet Kramarae argues that such labels may be necessary to foster discussion.
    3. Her perspective on men’s motives is contested by scholars such as Tannen.

 
 
 
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