Muted group theory: overview and applications

Muted Group Theory addresses the causes and effects of the oppression of women. The theory suggests that the oppression of women is ubiquitous and that women who have risen above or broken through glass ceilings have simply learned how to play by the rules that were established by men and maintained by men. According to Muted Group Theory, females are systematically oppressed: from the time female children are socialized they are stereotyped. This causes women to develop disempowering self-concepts, which they live up to in self-fulfilling prophecies. The systematic oppression of women also enables males to continue wielding social, political, and economic power. Females become the muted group because their voices remain unheard. When a woman speaks, she is sometimes derided for sounding too smart, not smart enough, too bitchy, to emotional, too uppity, or any other labels that effectively denigrate her voice. By delegitimizing the voices of women, both men and women who buy into the system contribute to the perpetuation of gender bias.

The theory centers on the use of language as a means of oppressing women. Language can be construed to mean more than just vocabulary. Gender-biased language is often obvious such as in the use of the male pronoun to refer to all of humanity. However, there are more subtle ways language impacts reality and the social construction of reality. Entire theoretical discourses are shaped by men: the paradigms used to explore and express reality are patriarchal. When women offer alternative solutions to problems such as war, poverty, and gender inequity, their voices are silenced because they are not working within the patriarchal framework.

Muted group theory points to the social construction of reality as a primary means by which muting takes place. For example, men and women have different shaping experiences in youth. Girls play with dolls and boys play with trucks. Girls play hopscotch and boys play football. Girls cry and boys do not. These essential shaping experiences create divisions between the genders, and proscribe gendered behaviors. In order to conform, both men and women buy into the gendered and stratified society. This gendered society is hierarchically organized so that men enjoy positions of political power with far greater proportions than women. Men, who are referred to as "founding fathers," have set the rules. If women want a modicum of political, social, or economic status they must also play by the same rules. A woman becomes successful only by acting "like a man" and using male vocabulary and discourse including that of power over others and oppression. Alternatively a woman becomes successful by acting in the extreme feminized version of herself, by sexualizing herself. This is because men understand women as sexualized objects and as tools or playthings for men. When women conform to this ideal, they are speaking the dominant male language and thus may become successful. Women rarely have the opportunity to develop their own rules by which to define success. Without the creation of subcultures or countercultures, the role of women in society is subservient and secondary.