Theorist: Cheris Kramarae
Women and members of other subordinate groups are not as free or able as men to say what they wish because their words have been formulated and translated by a male-dominated style of communication.
Women’s words and thoughts are discounted in our society.
When women try to overcome this inequity, the masculine control of communication places them at a disadvantage.
Women are a muted group because man-made language aids in defining, depreciating, and excluding them
Example:
- Women are absent in comic books
- When presented they are emotional, apologetic or plain wishy-washy
- Male words are simple and forceful
- Women are left out of ethnographic research very often because they are considered bad informants due to their communication style.
Male dominated metaphors in the workplace.
- ‘Penetration of Markets’
- ‘Stick it to the competition’
- ‘Do you have the balls to do this job?’
- Men are the gatekeepers of communication. Mainstream communication is “malestream” expression.
- Masculine talk is not simply different, it is the voice of power
- Institutions shaped by men, privilege male voice
- Men attend to and treat as significant only what men say. “The hell with what that woman said… she’s a woman!”
If women are muted and can’t speak up, they are ignored.
Thus, ‘Words ignored, unspoken, unthought mute women and may lead them to doubt the validity of their experience and legitimacy of their feelings (497)
Kramarae criticizes Deborah Tannen (the theorist of Genderlect). Tannen says that no gender is superior to another, but just that we have different styles.
