Muted Group Title Page
by Andrea Wolfe

The Muted Group theory by Cheris Kramarae gives a feminist theorist's perspective to women's oppression as the muted group of the sexes. A muted group is any group of people whose opinions and voices are disregarded and devalued. They speak their opinion, but it is not heard or acknowledged. Em Griffin, the author of the textbook A First Look At Communication Theory,states the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis might help to explain the phenomenon of the silencing of women. This hypothesis argues that "language shapes the perception of our reality". This would support Kramarae's presumption that women do not have a public voice because of the lack of vocabulary available to express themselves. Kramarae states that women may try to voice their opinion and make themselves heard, but due to "man-made language" they are put at a disadvantage due to the extremely male based structure of the English language. The mere structure and word usage puts women at a disadvantage. Words like congressman, mailman, and chairman, exclude women just by the formation of the word. The word woman is even used as a qualifier when talking of a woman in a high position such as, "a woman doctor, a female judge". This expresses the assumption that a woman in that particular field is out of the norm, and it needs to be stated that the person is a woman. However, it is not done with male equivalent. One never hears, "a man doctor". It is assumed that the doctor is male.

Kramarae uses the term "malestream" communication to express the idea that men not only create communication, but control it too. Women have almost been totally excluded from art, poetry, film, and other forms of mass communication in the past. The exception to this malestream communication is the Internet. Information on the Internet does not have to go through editors (who are usually male), and can be posted by anyone. This aides in the amplification of the muted group's voices, but hardly fixes the problem. For example, the reader of this web site has no idea of my age, race, or appearance. Although by my name you would be able to figure out my sex, and even if my name was ambiguous to sex, by my usage of language a skilled person would be able to tell my sex. Although the Internet is a good tool for the muted group, it is still monopolized by men in their usage or by their control in the formation of the major search engines.

When women speak in the public arena, they are forced to translate their style of language into a more male based form. It is as if women must translate their "foreign language" into the male form to be understood and taken seriously. Women must carefully select their words to best fit the male template. This so called translation of language can be seen in simple examples. My cousin who is an executive vice president at Radio Spirits, a radio station based out of Chicago, finds that when she is at work, she loses most of her feminine qualities. She is a very petite, attractive woman, but she says that when she is at work she acts like she is a 6'4", 300 pound linebacker. When she addresses the male executives, she lowers her voice, uses "male" language such as chairman and other male based words. She says she disregards "feminine" qualities such as compassion and understanding, and always "goes for the big deal" so to peak.

I have only touched on some of the topics Cheris Kramarae brings up. She delves into the explanation of women as a muted group to fully understand the usage of language and its ramifications. She offers us information that will hopefully make us more sensitive to language and sparks the production of a non-sexist language. For a in depth look into the Muted Group theory through explanations, research, examples, and critiques, visit the pages listed below.

Links to other pages

Matt gives us his research on the Muted Group Theory.

Chris also gives research on the Muted Group Theory.

Kindra gives us an application of the Muted Group Theory.

Melissa also gives an application of the Muted Group Theory.

Stephanie gives her critique of the Muted Group Theory.



Check out questions on the Muted Group Theory posted by John R. Baldwin, assistant professor of the department of communications at Illinios State Universtiy, for a communication class at ISU.

This is a link to a page created by other Inco 234 students on the Spiral of Silence theory . This theory can be related to Muted Group because both theories attempt to explain the oppression of a particular group. They are both grounded in the assumption that one group controls the other.

Check out this page created by other Inco 234 students on the Agenda Setting Theory. Both Agenda Setting and Muted Group Theory state that our beliefs and attitudes are conditioned and effected by external sources beyond our control.

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This page last updated by Andrea Wolfe on March 12, 1999