Comm 3210: Human Communication Theory

Summary

Cheris Kramarae, professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois, would probably feel closer to satisfied if the summary section of this paper were not necessary, if the connotations and ideas that muted group theory entails came to mind automatically. Unfortunately though, I would confuse a great deal of people if I used the terms "muted group theory" in writing and conversation without further explanation. This demonstrates a fundamental concept in Kramarae's theory. Muted group theory was designed to explore the experience of a subordinate group, particularly women, and therefore, the majority of the general public does not recognize it. In order for the theory to become wide spread the dominant group must acknowledge and encode it. For many, women and other marginalized groups' lack of voice remains "the problem with no name" (Kramarae, 1981) or worse, not a problem at all.

An underlying premise of Kramarae's theory asserts that the division of labor has created different experiences for women and men. Therefore, women and men perceive the world differently. Historically, and to a large degree, still today, men inhabited and controlled the public and political domain while women were restricted to the home and personal matters (Griffin, 1997). Men developed the language of our culture to express what they knew to be reality accompanied by how they wanted their world to be. The experiences, values, beliefs of men became institutionalized whereas women's concerns, needs and rights became marginalized and devalued. Edwin Ardener (1975) captures this phenomenon in his statement "groups that are on top of the social hierarchy determine to a great extent the dominant communication system of a society" (Kramarae, 1981). Consequently, women are "muted". They cannot easily express their perceptions or experiences. These perceptions and experiences must first be filtered through or translated into the dominant (patriarchal) system of communication. This involves continual effort and incessant self-monitoring. Terms must be selected cautiously. Oftentimes revealing a single idea or sentiment requires extensive illustration, narratives and/or examples because that idea or sentiment does not have a label in the present lexicon. For example, this was a crucial obstacle in the establishment of what we now know to be sexual harassment. Women had to paint the entire situation and how it made them feel, whereas now we can say there was an incident of sexual harassment and there is general understanding. If a woman ignores the translation process and instead changes her vocabulary, grammar and style, men will simply not listen or reject her message. Again, using the development of the concept of sexual harassment, had a woman used the word unaccompanied by illustration, men would not have assigned the problem validity (or even considered it a problem) because it would have been too foreign to their experiences and understanding. She has arrived at a double bind, either way she loses. She conforms to man's world in which she is depreciated or she invents her own path and is ignored and/or ridiculed. There is a great deal of danger in conforming. It is difficult, if not impossible to some extent, to buy into a language and not buy into its corresponding worldview. Griffin (1997) writes that women "may even come to doubt the validity of their experience and the legitimacy of their feelings." Kramarae (1981) affirms this notion when she writes, "Words constantly ignored may eventually come to be unspoken and perhaps even unthought."

According to Kramarae, there are several hypotheses interconnected with muted group theory. One such hypothesis is that males will encounter more difficulty in understanding what members of the other gender mean. One reason for this may be that men do not have experience in taking the perspective of the other. Men do not have to enter the woman's world; they are and have been higher on the status/power hierarchy. But as previously stated, women are forced to learn the structure of man-made language. Thus they have experience in stepping outside their own experiences. In addition, men who prefer the asymmetrical power structure benefit from seeing women as different, wrong, and/or illogical. This attitude reinforces women's subordinate role and allows the present arrangement to remain unchallenged.

Another hypothesis argues that females will express themselves in other modes than those monopolized by males, for example letters, diaries, "gossip", and nonverbal expression (Kramarae, 1981). This is due to the fact that traditional modes and terms of talk to not serve women adequately. They search for an outlet for their thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, being stifled by the dominant group causes one to not only be more attuned to others, but value and respect them more as well.

A last noteworthy element is that Kramarae and other "feminists" do not merely want to call attention to the unfair power differentials and injustice of the present system of communication. We want reform. Women's experiences, actions, and perceptions should not be ignored or viewed as inferior. The feminist dictionary is one solution presented by Kramarae. She believes that if women had direct references and labels for our experiences, then the inequality and silencing would become more identifiable and as a result, more real. The more real this problem becomes to society, the more people will acknowledge dissatisfaction and strive for improvement. This would enable direct public discussion and facilitate the initiative for necessary social changes.

Explanation of Case

Meredith came to college expecting to find an environment that was more congruous with her ideologies. You see, she was always confident that she was as capable and intelligent as any male. No one treated her this way however. Her father did not get involved in his daughters lives- treated them as if they were of a different species to which he could not and did not want to relate. Her male peers talked about females as objects and play toys. The older men at her job told her that as pretty as she was, she didn't need to go to college. The athletic director at high school forced her to choose between the two varsity sports in which she excelled because "two sports and classes would be too much stress on her emotionally and physically." In contrast, the boys were permitted to participate in more than one sport. But she optimistically held tightly to the dream that women were not treated this way everywhere. She would tell herself every morning "this is merely how the lower income Midwestern suburbs are". In college, she thought, people will be educated and diversity- ethnicity, religion, gender, etc.- will be respected and appreciated.

Her first semester freshman year in a sociology recitation, she found herself engaged in a discussion on whether or not women are discriminated against and felt oppressed in U.S. society. She felt excited to finally talk about a subject that had caused a considerable amount of frustration, disappointment and mental disequilibrium throughout her life. She was sure that while not all the female students would have exactly the same perceptions, they would agree that at times they had felt devalued and treated unfairly. Disconcertment soon followed as she looked around the circle to find that she had few supporters. Most of the females were not paying attention to anything but their split ends, and a couple actually disagreed with her. One woman told her that she was feeling sorry for herself. One male said the genders were treated appropriately - "males are better at some things and females at others." And another female stated that she never felt discriminated against. Meredith gave examples such as "A male will make more money with a high school degree than a female with a college degree. A female earns seventy-six cents for every dollar a male with the same qualifications earns. Why is a guy a stud but a girl is a slut? What about rape, sexual harassment and high incidents of domestic violence on women? Why are women underrepresented or frequently negatively portrayed in the media?" But no one seemed to care to the extent that she did (except the recitation leader). As she gloomily walked out of the building after class, she heard a female in her class remarking "what was with the drama queen?" The male elicited giggles with his response "Who? The feme-nazi?" Meredith wanted to confront them but knew she could not express what she felt. She felt chillingly alone knowing that as strong as the feelings were inside, she could not convince them. She went home disheartened, asking herself why people label others "feme-nazi", "feminist" or any other term simply because she stood up for herself and her right to equal treatment as a human being. She has mentally revisited that day many times since then, trying to understand why anyone would ignore or be blind to the biases that work against him/her and further perpetuate the prejudice and limitation placed upon him/her.

Application

Through the lens of muted group theory, Meredith's situation, although still bleak, becomes more comprehensible. In class, she provided many examples and detailed explanations to describe an experience that she felt did not need so many words; it was prejudice, plain and simply to her. But in man's language, prejudice and discrimination did not readily apply to women. Likewise, she was unable to successfully express her perceived severity of the issue both in class and afterwards when she was being mocked. She just could not find the right words to get her point across; she could not find her voice. In terms of muted group theory, she experienced difficulty translating her experiences and feelings into the dominant language structure in an effective way. As what she wanted to express traveled though the filter of the dominant view, it lost its meaning, clarity and significance. This caused her a great deal of mental discomfort because she sensed that she was stifled by this barrier of language, communication, and shaped reality. She instinctively was angry at the other females for not supporting her and recognizing that they deserve more. But the others have been, according to Kramarae's theory, manipulated. All their lives, women and men's differences have been imposed, either implicitly or explicitly, on them. Repeated lessons of this sort become internalized and accepted as reality. Many learn not to see or pay attention to partial treatment, others see it as justifiable, and some cannot express themselves fluently and functionally against it. The concept of selective attention and acceptance are evident in the girl who labeled her a drama queen and joked about her to get a few laughs from some males. In essence, she encouraged and supported her own devalued position in society with the hope that the dominant group would accept her. She chose to conform to the institutionally biased language and worldview.

In this case, the inferior and negative position of women that Kramarae speaks of is especially exhibited in the labels placed on Meredith. One male referred to her as a "feme-nazi". She attempted to point to the fact that the system is not serving all people equally and as a result she was equated with the nazi party, a group of people guilty of genocide and inhumanity. This directly corresponds with muted group theory. When a man stands up for his rights, he is applauded, but a woman is heckled. Language is indeed keeping woman "in her place". A place designed by males so they could retain power, control, and all the advantages of society.

Meredith would significantly benefit from studying muted group theory. The loneliness and agony she experienced due to this incident (and others like it) would be eased in that she would know there are many more women who struggle with a lack of power and value too. She would have the comfort of confirmation of her fundamental beliefs and ideologies. Also, she would feel less futile. The theory would eliminate some of her personal feelings of responsibility. There is indeed a force working against women. As more people realize this is a problem and this problem will not solve itself, we are closer to achieving social change.

Critique

Kramarae's muted group theory is best viewed through humanistic standards. It provides an understanding of people and places priority on emancipation. It clarifies what the societal values are at present, those being patriarchal (power and competition) and emphasizes that those need to be further modified to better include equality and humanity. It is aesthetically appealing. I found it catalyzed optimism and comfort in me as a woman. This appeal has the potential to easily create a community of agreement among women and others concerned with equal distribution of power among groups. Lastly it calls for societal reform. The goals include reworking the man-made language system and eliminating bias.

Muted group theory empowers and encourages women. This is a critical strength of the theory. It validates and explains the experiences and perceptions of women. It also can be easily applied to other historically subordinated groups and their difficulty in achieving their proper place in society. It is not solely enlightening though. Muted group theory also strongly calls for action and reform. Even if it is a small step, such as being aware of our own vocabulary and its implications, it is a practical step in the right direction.

I believe there is a negative side though. The source of the power differential is language. Removing bias from language is an extremely difficult and seemingly overwhelming task. Society revolves around communication. It is crucial to knowing (among many other things) who we are, what our world is like, what our goals are and how to accomplish such goals. As the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis declares, language shapes our perception of reality (Griffin, 1997). Language is a primary symbolic manner in which we communicate. To alter language requires extensive time and effort. There will always be people who cannot or will not give up their views. Derogatory attitudes toward women often involve circular reasoning- something that is tremendously challenging to overcome. Also, to overcome these attitudes at least nationally, the attention of the dominant group indispensable. At present, this is lacking. But how does one go about encouraging the dominant group to accept a theory that will diminish their power and advantages for the sake of justice? This is a question muted group theory does not answer and neither can I.

References

Griffin, E. M. (1997). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.

Jenkins, M (1980). Woman to woman: speaking the common language. In C. Kramarae (Ed.). The voices and words of women and men (pp. 319-323). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press Inc.

Kramarae, C. (1981). Women and men speaking. Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers, Inc.

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