Chapter 29 – Muted Group Theory
Chapter 29
Muted Group Theory
Multiple Choice Questions
1. _____ are the central focus in Muted Group Theory.
2. Which of the following is NOT consistent with the main ideas of Muted Group Theory?
3. Kosenko (2010) studied _____, concluding that they are rendered mute by a biomedical
discourse that does not include their experiences.
4. The group that holds the power in the culture is referred to as the _____.
5. Shirley Ardener discovered that women explain their mutedness as being a result of men’s
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20. The central premise of Muted Group Theory is that
21. _____ is defined as the learned behaviors that constitute femininity and masculinity in a
given culture.
22. Cindy Reuther and Gail Fairhurst (2000) discuss the _____ for women in organizational
hierarchies and observe that patriarchal values tend to reproduce themselves in organizations to
men’s advantage.
23. The final assumption of Muted Group Theory speaks to the process of _____ that women
must go through in order to participate in social life.
True/False Questions
24. Any nondominant group can be considered to be a muted group according to Orbe.
25. Social hierarchy and class are factors often used to determine whose language will
dominate.
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26. Gender polarization refers to the allocation of work on the basis of sex.
27. Women sometimes engage in the process of silencing one another.
28. Harassment refers to the process in which speech is trivialized.
29. According to Cindy Reuther and Gail Fairhurst, White men’s experiences dominate the
world of work.
30. The research on interruption patterns shows that men and women are pretty much the same
with respect to interrupting others.
31. 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.
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32. Muted Group Theory is a social scientific theory.
33. Muted Group Theory acknowledges that women are all alike, and there is an essential
womanness that all women possess.
34. Elspeth Tilley (2010) found that men were not more likely than women to speak out in
public when confronted with an employee who had breached ethical standards.
35. Heather Kissack (2010) tested some of Muted Group Theory’s assumptions and found that
they still hold true in the context of organizational emails.
Essay Questions
36. 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.
Answers will vary.
37. 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.
Answers will vary.
38. Describe the four methods that result in silencing, and provide an example to illustrate each
method.
Answers will vary.
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39. 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?
Answers will vary.
40. 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.
Answers will vary.
41. Think of three examples (other than those provided in your text) of experiences unique to a
marginalized group that has 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?
Answers will vary.
42. Discuss what it means to refer to Muted Group Theory as a critical theory. What does it
share in common with other critical theories?
Answers will vary.