Muted Group Theory Across Cultures
Mark Orbe is a communication theorist who has extended Kramarae’s work in muted group theory to African-American males and other groups made up of various cultures. Orbe, in his articles “African-American communication research: Toward a deeper understanding of interethnic communication” (1995) and “Constructing co-cultural theory: An explication of culture, power, and communication” (1998), fleshed out two important extensions of muted group theory:
- Muting as described in muted group theory can be applied to many cultural groups. Orbe (1995) stated that research performed by the dominant white European culture has created a view of African-American communication “which promotes the illusion that all African-Americans, regardless of gender, age, class, or sexual orientation, communicate in a similar manner” (p. 2).
- There is not just one way that members of a muted group can deal with their position within the dominant culture. Orbe identified 26 different acts that members of muted groups choose from in dealing with the structures and messages of the dominant society. Orbe says that which act is chosen depends on previous experiences, context, the individual’s abilities and perceived costs and rewards. Some examples of these acts that members of muted groups can choose from are: emphasizing commonalities and downplaying cultural differences, educating others about norms of the muted group, and avoiding members of the dominant group.
In developing a "Co-Cultural Communication Theory," Orbe focuses on how different underpresented group members negotiate their muted group status. According to his work, this constant negotiation includes remaining muted, but also identifies the diverse ways in which individuals gain voice in different contexts.
Kramarae opens the door to the application of muted group theory to issues beyond gender differences including "a range of other marginalizing differences as well including race,sexuality, age and class." Gendrin in her study of homeless women and Orbe in his study of African American men emphasized that not only women, but any group outside the mainstream is more likely to be muted. Orbe goes a step further to advance interest in assessing "how individual and small collectives work together to negotiate their muted group status". As Wood advanced, muted group theory focuses on the power to name experience, a task typically left to dominant groups. West and Turner concluded that muted group theory points out problems with the status quo and suggests ways to address them.
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