Question

Feminist anthropologists gavethe concept of "muted group" refering to women.

Answer 1

Muted group theory (MGT), created by Edwin and Shirley Ardener in 1975, is a communication theory that focuses on how marginalized groups are muted and excluded via the use of language. The main idea of MGT is that "Language serves its creators better than those in other groups who have to learn to use the language as best they can."[1]The term “mutedness” refers to a group’s inability to express themselves due to this inequity.[1] The theory describes the relationship between a dominant group and its subordinate group(s) as being as follows: 1) the dominant group contributes mostly to the formulation of the language system, including the norms and vocabulary, and 2) members from the subordinate group have to learn and use the dominant language to express themselves. However, this translationprocess may result in the loss and distortion of information as the people from subordinate groups cannot articulate their ideas clearly.[1]The dominant group may also ignore the voice of the marginalized group. All these may eventually lead to the mutedness of the subordinate group. Although this theory was initially developed to study the different situations faced by women and men, it can also be applied to any marginalized group that is muted by the inadequacies of their languages.[1]

MGT offers ways to change the muting status quo, i.e., naming the strategies of silencing, reclaiming, elevating and celebrating women's discourse, and creating new languages based on the experience of the marginalized group.