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.

Standpoint Theory

The Standpoint Theory looks at the world through an extremely feminist point of view. The two founders and researchers of the theory are Sandra Harding and Julia T. Wood who argue that one of the best ways to understand how our society works is to research it from the viewpoint of groups who are less priveleged- primarily women. The theory argues that by taking the perspective of women, we gain a viewpoint of the world that shows a new perspective on mainstream issues. The best example I can think of for this is the research that has been done on rape and also domestic violence. If we were to follow the Standpoint Theory, our research would stem from women who were raped or involved in abuse situations, and even taking it further, conducted by female researchers. This would give us the female perspective that Wood and Harding argue is more objective.

Genderlect Styles

I love the Genderlect Styles Theory. I think it is because I see it happen so much in my personal life. The Genderlect Styles Theory describes male-female conversations as cross-cultural communication. This cross-cultural communication is defined as genderlects. The theory holds that neither one is superior, they are just different. The theory examines how women and men differ in communication styles when it comes to public speaking vs. private speaking, when telling a story, when listening, when asking questions, and when in conflict. The best example I can think of is interactions with my boyfriend. We are a lot alike, however, when it comes to communicating we can be on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. For example, when it is just Derek and I, I do most of the talking. However, when we're out for the night or at a party, it's usually Derek doing most of the talking. He's usually the center of attention. Also, when I'm telling a story, it's usually about something someone else did, while he's usually talking about something crazy he did. The last example I thought of is something we fight about a lot. Derek and I have totally different listening styles. When I listen to him, whether we're fighting or just talking, I always make eye contact and provide the feedback cues like "mhmm", or "right." Derek, on the other hand, doesn't do any of that. He insists that he really is listening, however because our genderlects are so different when it comes to listening, we usually end up fighting about it. This is definitely a theory I'd like to study more.

Face-Negotiation Theory

Face-Negotiation Theory is an interesting one. The theory aims to explain how different cultures respond to conflict. Specifically the culture examines the differences between collectivistic and individualistic cultures. The main concept behind the thoery looks at how different cultures "negotiate face". Face refers to how we want others to see us, how we want them to perceive us. Therefore, the theory defines facework as the verbal or nonverbal messages that help us keep and/or gain face. I actually studied this theory in a buisness class I took a couple semesters ago. The example that popped into my head was a specific encounter I had while working on a project with someone from a different culture. The girl paired up with me to work on a project was from China. China is a very collectivistic culture in that they focus on group goals, and are very face-giving. The United States, however, is a very individualistic culture in that we are independent and focused on individual goals, and are usually more concerned with face restoration. We had just discussed this theory a little bit when studying how business owners interact with cross-cultural businesses and some of the problems that can arise. While working on the project, somehow there was a miscommunication between this girl and me, and we both thought the other person was working on the other part of the project, when in reality, we were working on the same part. When it came time to bring it all together, there was a little conflict because no one had completed the second part of the project. I demonstrated my individualistic tendencies by explaining myself, and restoring my face. She, on the other hand, started talking about how our group should have been more organized and how we needed this part of the project to be done, and since there was miscommunication she would go ahead and do the rest of the project. Looking back on it, it's interesting to see how differently we reacted to the situation because we were from such different cultures.

(By the way, we ended up splitting up the last part of the project, getting an 'A', and we are still friends to this day!)

Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory

The Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory primarily deals with interactions between strangers and some cultural group. The founder of the theory, William, Gudykunst, emphasizes that these interactions are not strictly limited to foreign cultures. This theory can be applied to any situation where one person involved is the "stranger." The theory discusses how during the intitial interactions between the stranger and the ingroup, both parties experience anxiety and aren't sure how they should act. This anxiety is intensified when it involves people from different cultures. The first thing that popped in my head when talking about this theory was when I spent a week in Nicaragua my senior year of highschool. The villiage we stayed in had only seen caucasian people three other times. When we first arrived in the villiage, the tension was very high between the villiagers and the team I was with. The interaction was somewhat awkward, not only because of the language barrier, but also because no one had any idea how to react. Our team was anxious because we didn't know what was acceptable behavior, or how to approach the villiagers, and I'm positive the people of the villiage felt the same anxiety. Also, like the theory suggests, because my interaction with the villiage was an interaction involving two parties from completely different cultures, our anxiety was intensified quite a bit.

Sprial of Silence

The Spiral of Silence Theory is probably my favorite theory out of all the ones we have covered this semester. The theory holds that there is increasing pressure on people to conceal their viewpoints when they believe they are in the minority. It also explains how media accelerates this spiral. The main idea of the theory is that we are driven to keep quiet by our fear of isolation. We are more willing to speak out when we think we are in the majority. Also, the theory says we are more willing to speak out if we are male, young adults, middle to upperclass, speaking to those with similar interests, if we have a high self esteem, or if existing law supports our opinions. I see this theory at work every year of school at the beginning of each semester. When the semester begins, no one knows each other and every one is a little concerned with what everyone else thinks of them. So, when the professor asks a question, if no one else is responding, someone who knows the right answer may still choose to stay quiet just because he or she thinks she is in the minority and is in fear of the isolation that may come with being wrong or some other factor.

Agenda Setting Theory

The Agenda Setting Theory is a theory I've never heard about as a theory before, however the main idea of it was discussed a lot when I was a student in the Journalism program. The theory holds that the media acts as the mediator between what is going on in the world and what we think is going on in the world. The media has the power to influence what we think about and how we think about it. The theory also explains that we tend to view something as important if the news is treating it with importance. The first example that popped in my head was the coverage on Anna Nicole Smith. Although it was tragic what happened to her, I would argue that her death did not demand the broad spectrum of coverage that it received. I would also argue that half of the people that saw it as important only did so because the news outlets put such an emphasis on it. This theory makes me wonder if our media outlets emphasized more global issues, such as what is going on with the AIDS epidemic in Africa, if our society would have different priorities.