Muted Group Theory ( Mgt )

This shows relation to the ‘conflict theory’, because different social groups are not treated equally.

The group voiced its concerns in a positive, yet proud, way. It celebrated one another’s personal experiences in a non-elitist manner. The members of the group endeavored to show people around the world that their identity considerations and associations do not score their experience of repression. They emphasized that the oppression they underwent is no more than an experience or even more significant compared to the one of any sideline

tensions groups, where they are not as timid to say as they wish to see happen.

Within a single culture there are differences based on religion, politics, nationality, race, and ideology that go largely unassumed by its members. This leads to people defining others in ways that are entirely inaccurate. Members of these imagined communities who live without their identities being recognized by the larger majority are very similar to the subordinate, more “primitive” cultures that exist in the world in the sense that most of the time, they go unacknowledged by larger, more advanced powers. When these subsidiary entities are unable to make themselves known, they simply become easily influenced by higher powers since they tend to become “a quiescent, ignorant, manipulable electorate” (Pratt, 510). It is vital that these marginalized peoples learn to make themselves heard, for there are many principles and ideas that can be learnt from them.

Typically, a government or political organization that is in power places these restrictions formally or covertly on oppressed groups so that they may be exploited and less able to compete with other social groups. The oppressed individual or group is devalued, exploited and deprived of privileges by the individual or group which has more power" (Barker, 2003).

Foucault (1977) uses discourse to relate to how language can be used to construct ideas and thoughts about groups. Discourses and language can therefore help construct or reduce oppression (Thompson, 2006). If a group has power, they have the ‘ability and opportunity to fulfil or obstruct personal, relational, or collective needs’ (Prilleltensky, 2008). If the dominant discourse of a less powerful group is positive, the group with power may help that group fulfil their needs. If the dominant discourse of a less powerful group is negative, such as with UASC, the powerful group may obstruct them in fulfilling their needs, and therefore will cause oppression.

Denial and ignorance is a common behavior noted in this book. Many times people do not react to what is going on around them, even though they may have a sense of what is going on. Some individuals may walk away from a scene so they don’t have to get caught up and involved. There are also many stereotypes of people of

“Power relationships are shaped by people’s mental biases and beliefs about individuals in other groups” (pg. 108 Social Inequality). Despite the creation of new groups,

Each individual conveys their ideas in unique ways. Men and women in particular express themselves in drastically different ways. In “How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently,” Deborah Tannen, a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, experiments with the causes of classroom dynamics. Tannen opens her discussion by exploring the beginning stages of learning communication skills and then fast forwards to adulthood. Tannen uses research from sociologists and anthropologists such as Lever, Goodwin, and Eder as well as insight from Walter Ong to add credibility and to create a foundation for her explanation of the causes of classroom dynamics. Tannen expands on this research from cultural and behavioral professionals by creating an experiment in her own classroom to demonstrate that communication skills learned and cemented in younger years, combined with a “ritual opposition” setting, produce classroom dynamics.

There has been a drastic change in the way we perceive the world and this can alter the way we see each other. We tend to jump onto a bandwagon because it seems easiest or because of one personal scenario. This is one of the main causes for prejudice and injustice. How a person reacts to being oppressed may bring out another side of them, but this side is their true self. This reaction speaks of his or her morals, ethics, and values. To these people, all the perpetrators appear the same, but it is known that while some may easily go along with it, some may choose to stand above it all. The concepts referenced to earlier will be soon elaborated on in further analysis as this essay goes on.

In any case, individuals within society become oppressed as higher-ranked groups control their lower class counterparts. The five characteristics that pertain to human oppression become defined in Plumwood’s essay as: radical exclusion, homogenization, denial, incorporation, and instrumentalism. Radical exclusion refers to the separating of men as the “One” and women as the “Other.” Furthermore, this term means that the qualities of women become

Muted group theory was introduced by Cheris Kramarae. This theory is the idea that in the English language, men seem to have power over women when it comes to the right to be able to talk and say what they want to say. This is because men, who Kramarae believes are the dominant group, have formulated different words and norms. This leaves women feeling left out and constrained in what they can and cannot say. Deborah Tannen on the other hand, deals with Genderlect theory and the idea that male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication. Tannen strongly believes that men and women have different ways of communicating. Both Kramarae and Tannen deal with very valuable theories that have similarities and differences to them.

This is done deliberately through representations of the other by the dominant group, as they have the power to mark, assign and classify (Hall, 2001), to justify the subordination of these groups (Lorber, 1994). It is through these subordinate characteristics (stereotypes) assigned to the subordinate groups that they become the way in which the group is defined and hierarchically stratified on the basis of race, class, sexuality or gender and then become naturalised through discourse (Hall, 2001). For example black people are hyper-sexualised and characteristics such as barbaric and savage are associated with them (Hall, 2001). This then becomes the reason why black people are seen as inferior and in need of being subordinated, oppressed and marginalised. This is then articulated through discourse and by doing this the dominant group maintains power as it is connected with knowledge; knowledge that dominant groups aim to replace their own specialized thought so as to produce internalised oppression in subordinate groups (Collins, 1990).

Muted group theory is a critical theory concerned with how gender, power, and communication relate to one another. It focuses on the ways the communication practices of a dominant groups suppress, mute, or devalue the words, ideas, and discourses of subordinate groups (Kramarae, 2009). The theory focuses on people with various social status and how they communicate. For example, it emphasizes how much these people speak, when and where they speak, with what words and concepts, in what modes or channels, and with what repercussions (Kramarae, 2018). The muted group theory also brings to light the ways that language structure and customs are not equal for all speakers.

Approximately 3000-6000 languages are spoken by humans. The chapter explains gender roles as social behaviors for specific sex as defined by culture. Privilege revolves around inequalities where one group enjoys the benefits at the expense of the other. Group role also explains privilege as one dominant group may oppress the other group.