Muted group theory

1. Muted Group Theory Cheris Kramarae 

2. Introduction Idea of MGT came from social anthropologist Edwin & Shirley Ardener and was further elaborated by Cheris Kramarae in the field of  Communication Studies There are minorities in a society. That means, in a society, there a certain group of people which are silenced as they have no much power to stand up and speak up.  Cheris Kramarae , further developed Muted Group theory from her feminist standpoint on how women are somewhat muted and are dominated by male's perception.

3. Definition of Muted Group  Kramarae states that “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.” For example Women 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

4. Language is a Man-made construction For example:- Mr. and MRs Gender specific job titles Non parallel usage Gendering object

5. Assumption laid down by Kramarae (1)"Women perceive the world differently from men because of women’s and men’s different experience and activities rooted in the division of labor“ For example :- Private sphere and Public sphere

6. Assumption laid down by Kramarae (2) Male are the dominant group in society which will make female's point of view to be lest competent. Men’s control over language has produced an abundance of derogatory words for women and their speech patterns Words For men (over 22 words) Playboy, stud, gigolo, player, Don Juan, lothario, womanizer, pimp etc Words For women (more then 200 words) Slut, whore, hooker, prostitute, harlot, concubine, streetwalker, easy lay. Jezebel, etc. A long with speech patterns such as gossiping, whining, and bitching

7. Assumption laid down by Kramarae (3) To be a part of the society and to dominate, female must act similar to those of the dominant groups, in terms of their perception towards thing . Example of this male-dominated language:- Kramarae stated 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

8. Men as Gatekeeper of communication Gatekeepers are editors and other arbiters of a 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. Women lacked influence on mass media and were not often found properly represented in history. Men being the gatekeepers were able to use the media to their advantage all while muting females

9. Men as Gatekeeper of communication For example:- Women are absent in comic books and when they were presented they were seen emotional ,apologetic or plain wishy-washy

10. Men as Gatekeeper of communication The man in the cartoon is letting the female character know that sexual harassment by upper level employees is alright and she should not complain about it