Muted Group Theory

Muted Group Theory was developed by researcher Cheris Kramarae. According to Kramarae, women's thoughts and words are "devalued" in society, therefore women are what she calls a "muted group." The theory holds that, particularly in the language aspect of our culture, women's thoughts go unnoticed. Sometimes women can appear invisible in terms of public opinion. Like the Standpoint Theory, Muted Group Theory talks about how women have different perceptions of our world. Muted Group Theory takes it one step further and argues that women's thoughts and speech is controlled and censored by males in society. She presents men as the gatekeepers of communication. This is hard theory to think of an example for, especially because I don't necessarily agree with Kramarae. However, the best example I can come up with is how women in television are always portrayed as beautiful and gentle, and flowery almost. Also, women are always shown supporting a man instead of contributing her own opinions and ideals. While this happens on televison and in advertising, I do believe it occurs less frequently than Kramarae might suspect. I think women do have a significant voice in society, and that their voice is being heard more now than it ever has been before.