Deck 29: Muted Group Theory

Question 1

_________ are the central focus in Muted Group Theory (MGT).

A) Nonverbal expectancies
B) Language limitations
C) Nonverbal limitations
D) Language expectancies

Answer 1

Language limitations

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT consistent with the main ideas of Muted Group Theory?

A) The dominant group is better served by the language because they had the largest part in creating it.
B) In order to be heard, the muted group must translate its own worldview and experiences into a language that can be compared to that of the dominant group.
C) The language differences of the muted group and the dominant group are discussed, and a common language to use as a reference point is negotiated between the two groups.
D) The articulations of the muted group are often broken and less clear than those of the dominant group.

Answer 2

The language differences of the muted group and the dominant group are discussed, and a common language to use as a reference point is negotiated between the two groups.

Question 3

Kosenko (2010) studied ___________, concluding that they are rendered mute by a biomedical discourse which does not include their experiences.

A) female politicians
B) expectant mothers
C) transgender individuals
D) nurses

Answer 3

transgender individuals

Question 4

The group that holds the power in the culture is referred to as the _________ group.

A) muted
B) oppressed
C) majority
D) dominant

Question 5

Shirley Ardener discovered that women explain their mutedness as being a result of men's

A) deafness
B) argumentativeness
C) inquisitiveness
D) resistance

Question 6

One of the primary factors contributing to the differences in the ways that women and men experience the world, as identified by muted group theorists, is

A) women are able to experience childbirth
B) women are becoming empowered to seek management positions
C) women's and men's different experiences are rooted in the division of labor
D) more women are making the decision to remain at home to raise their children

Question 7

All of the following statements describing how women experience the communication process when interacting with men are true EXCEPT

A) women must first conceptualize a thought
B) women must scan their vocabulary to find words for encoding their thought into a meaning that can be interpreted by men
C) men engage in storytelling in an attempt to assist women in finding words to describe their experiences
D) the development of terminology such as "sexual harassment" and "date rape" has enabled women to describe experiences that previously they were unable to articulate

Question 8

Labeling women's talk as "gossip," "chatter,"
"nagging,"
Or "whining"
Is a type of silencing referred to as

A) ritual
B) ridicule
C) harassment
D) polarization

Question 9

The events that take place in a wedding ceremony are often perceived as serving the function of silencing women. This exemplifies which process of silencing?

A) ritual
B) ridicule
C) harassment
D) polarization

Question 10

_________ refers to verbal threats of men and their nonverbal control of public places.

A) Ritual
B) Ridicule
C) Street harassment
D) Public harassment

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT one of the strategies identified by Houston and Kramarae for resisting the process of muting?

A) naming the strategies of silencing (e.g, ridicule, ritual, harassment)
B) studying diaries, journals, quilts, and other artistic expressions of women
C) developing a more representative language to capture women's uniquely gendered experiences
D) negotiating a shared language that can be understood by dominant and subordinate groups

Question 12

Some critics have pointed out that there are examples of women in today's society who are willing and able to speak out in public and be heard. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin are two examples. This best exemplifies the criticism against the theory that

A) it has not received much empirical support
B) it exaggerates women's mutedness
C) it essentializes men and women
D) it does not challenge us to think about biases that exist in our own language system

Question 13

Traditionally, white men have decided what information will be included in our textbooks and have underrepresented the roles of women and minorities in shaping our history. This demonstrates the process of silencing referred to as

A) ritual
B) ridicule
C) control
D) harassment

Question 14

One of the primary benefits of Muted Group Theory is that it

A) advocates the status quo
B) essentializes men and women
C) has received extensive empirical support
D) challenges us to review what we accept and reject from public speakers

Question 15

Other non-dominant groups to which MGT has been applied include:

A) the elderly
B) non-Christians
C) the disabled
D) all of these

Question 16

The research of Radhika Chopra showed that muting can also affect

A) children
B) grandparents
C) fathers
D) mothers

Question 17

One ultimate goal of Muted Group Theory is to

A) reduce the amount of anxiety women have in their jobs
B) change the system of language that serves men more than women
C) limit the options that men have in perpetuating sexual stereotypes
D) present women with ways to become more powerful in their jobs

Question 18

_____ is a biological category; _____ is a social category.

A) Gender/sex
B) Muting/resistance
C) Sex/gender
D) Resistance/muting

Question 19

The communication traditions most closely associated with MGT are

A) semiotic and critical
B) critical and phenomenological
C) phenomenological and rhetorical
D) rhetorical and semiotic

Question 20

The central premise of MGT as given in the text is that:

A) all speakers of the English language were equally represented in its development.
B) women are naturally less talkative than men.
C) members of marginalized groups are silenced and rendered inarticulate as speakers.
D) the division of labor based on sex originated in the Renaissance.

Question 21

Any nondominant group can be considered to be a muted group according to Orbe.

Question 22

Social hierarchy and class are often factors used to determine whose language will dominate.

Question 23

Gender polarization refers to the allocation of work on the basis of sex.

Question 24

Women sometimes engage in the process of silencing one another.

Question 25

Harassment refers to the process in which speech is trivialized.

Question 26

According to Cindy Reuther and Gail Fairhurst, white men's experiences dominate the world of work.

Question 27

The research on interruption patterns shows that men and women are pretty much the same with respect to interrupting others.

Question 28

The stereotype that women talk more than men has been found to be true, as recent research has found that women's talk time exceeded men's in the vast majority of cases.

Question 29

Muted Group Theory is a social scientific theory.

Question 30

Identify a group, other than women, in our society that has been silenced or muted. Provide examples that illustrate the difficulties that may emerge or have emerged as a result of this silencing.

Question 31

Houston and Kramarae offer three strategies for resisting the process of silencing. Describe these strategies. Provide two additional strategies that you believe would be useful for resisting the silencing process.

Question 32

Describe the four processes of silencing that are presented by the authors. Provide an example to illustrate each process.

Question 33

Based on your understanding of Muted Group Theory, provide a critique by applying criteria presented in Chapter 3.

Question 34

Differentiate between the language you hear in the classroom (or on your campus) and the language used in other contexts (such as a physician's office, on a job site, or at a Thanksgiving dinner). What similarities and differences cut across the various contexts?

Question 35

Apply Muted Group Theory to technology such as the Internet. Discuss whether or not you believe the theory has more validity when it is applied to technology. Why or why not? Use examples to defend your view.

Question 36

Think of three examples (other than those provided in your text) of experiences unique to a marginalized group that have recently been given a name. What effects, according to Muted Group Theory, should that naming have for that group? Do you agree that in these three cases those effects have been realized?

Question 37

Discuss what it means to refer to Muted Group Theory as a critical theory. What does it share in common with other critical theories?