Running head: MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Muted Group Theory: Female Victims of Sexual Assault

Anna Wood
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

What comes to mind when you hear the term rape case? Male athletes from prestigious
universities? NFL stars? Intoxicated female victims? Perhaps a photograph of a male with his
head down in a courtroom beside his attorney? Have you ever noticed rape cases can be easily
identifiable by the name of the male rapist and not by the name of the female victim?
According to Bongiorno, McKimmie, and Masser (2016), victimization surveys estimates
14% of females will report sexual assault to the authorities and 6.5% of reported sexual assault
cases will end with the assaulter being convicted of a crime. Peoples expectations of rape is
oftentimes very different than how the rape occurs, therefore it is not real rape (Bongiorno et
al., 2016). Subsequently, females may feel her rape or sexual assault is not real enough to be
reported to the police. Kramarae (2005) says that many situations involve women being more
constrained than men with what they can say, when they can say it, and with what will be the
result of saying it.
The muted group theory of Cheris Kramarae suggests that a way a group maintains its
dominance is through constraining and belittling ideas and speech of those labeled as outside the
privileged circle (Kramarae, 2005). Griffin, Ledbetter, and Sparks (2015) defined a muted group
as people belonging to low-power groups who must change their language when
communicating publicly, thus, their ideas are often overlooked; e.g., women (p. 458).
This research paper will focus on females as the muted group in sexual assault cases. I
will focus on the expansion of Edwin Gardeners muted group theory done by Cheris Kramarae.
I will begin with a literature review of muted group theory with females being the muted group
in a male-dominated society with language that was created from male perspectives.

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

To end my research paper, I will begin my analysis by defining the terms sexual assault
and rape to demonstrate how muted group theory applies to these terms, and how society
mutes these victims from reporting these crimes.
Literature Review
Muted group theory is an interpretive theory studied in the cultural context of
communication proposed by Edwin Ardener. Societies have a hierarchical structured system
with designated groups consisting of dominant and marginalized members (Wood, 2005).
Ardener acknowledged that groups with high status in a culture largely determine the system of
communication within that culture (Wood, 2005). He then realized that groups with lack of
power were not necessarily silent, rather these groups had to change their language when
communicating to the public (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015).
Cheris Kramarae is known for her feminist extension of the muted group theory with
females being the muted group in society. Kramarae claims language is a man-made tool that
dominant culture uses to marginalize other groups. In that, they are deterring the marginalized
groups from being participants in their societies (Harris, 1999).
Men have constructed accepted language practices in order for their experiences to be
expressed (Kramarae, 2005). Dale Spendor said (as cited in Turner, 1992), codified language
has been constructed primarily by men, that men considered themselves representative of
humanity, and that this has numerous consequences for women. Seeing as men are not entirely
representatives of humanity, this puts females at a disadvantage. Kramarae explains how
language has been shaped by the experiences of a man; therefore it is difficult for women to
translate this language to fit with their life experiences (Turner, 1992). This is challenging
because males and females inhabit different realities and social worlds. Females appear more

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

hesitant than male speakers because they are muted if their translation is unsuccessful (Turner,
1992).
According to Kramarae (2005), muted group theory suggests the muted have relatively
little power to say what they want without getting into trouble. Those in dominant positions
disrespect the speech of the marginalized by considering their knowledge is not sufficient enough
for public decision-making (p. 55). The muted group have their experiences interpreted by
others, so they see themselves being represented through dominant discourse (p. 55). Dominant
discourse often marginalizes female theories labeling the theories feminist (p. 55). It is evident
that gender politics are present when females are the muted group in this theory, causing violence
and disarray in societies (p. 61).
In view of muted group theory causing violence and disarray in societies with the female
muted group, Mark Orbe, a professor at Western Michigan University, discovered three common
goals that members of muted groups strive for to have successful communication (Griffin,
Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2015). The first goal is to assimilate, or blend in with the dominant group.
An example used in A first look at communication theory: Ninth edition (2015) explained how
female authors have covered up their feminine identity when publishing literature due to fear of
male disapproval (p. 465). Females are assimilating with the dominant male culture. The second
goal Orbe discovered is separation. Muted groups will lessen contact with the dominant group,
therefore separating themselves (p. 465). Lastly, Orbe described persuading dominant groups to
integrate the co-cultural groups experience through accommodation. This approach is similar to
popular movements in U.S. history such as womens suffrage (p. 465). The goals that Orbe
mentioned are most certainly not the only methods muted groups use in order to be treated

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

equally within society. Each society involves different circumstances between groups that can
create an approach specifically tailored to that society.
Analysis
I would like to start my analysis by applying the muted group theory to the definitions of
sexual assault and rape. The United States Department of Justice (2016) defines sexual assault as
any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the recipient.
Rape is defined by the United States Department of Justice (2014) as the penetration, no matter
how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ
of another person without consent of the victim.
Sexual assault definitions vary from study to study (DeCou, Cole, Lynch, Wong, &
Matthews, 2016). DeCou et al., (2016) refers to sexual assault as any form of unwanted sexual
touching, attempted or completed sexual coercion, and/or attempted or completed rape (p. 1).
Females who have been sexually assaulted are the muted group because they have to
label their experience with terms that have been coined by men, the same gender of which they
were violated by. These terms sexual assault and rape do not have the same meaning to the
women who have been victimized than what these words mean to the male dominant group who
created them.
I will now apply muted group theory to how the sexual attacker and/or rapist disregard
the voice of the female he is attacking. According to Bongiorno, McKimmie, and Masser (2016),
powerful stereotypes exist about how victims of rape should act. Female victims are expected to
resist physically and report the incident immediately, however, victims are oftentimes in shock
therefore they cannot physically resist (Bongiorno, et al., 2016). Why should females be
expected to physically resist an attacker? Shouldnt the male be expected to not attack the female

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

if she does not give consent to a sexual act? When the female denies consent, and the male
continues with the attack, he is then putting her in a muted group. The female is in a muted
group because she has to change her communication from verbal to non-verbal with the physical
resistance, in that to comply with the society standards.
Females should have the power to use their words to give or not give consent to a sexual
act. Yet, the blame is still being put on females by news outlets for their dress and behavior as to
why they are victims of sexual assault (Worthington, 2005). Members of all groups of society
hear the language the news provides with their coverage of sexual assault cases such as
suggesting these crimes are culturally appropriate gender behavior caused by female
provocation (Worthington, 2005). The news media thereby is muting female victims by using
language that does not fit with each individual victims experience, ultimately seeing their
experiences translated by dominant discourse. Cases involving sexual assault and/or rape often
are made known to society by the name and achievements of the persecutor. The way society
focuses the attention on the males in these cases can hinder females from reporting sexual
assaults and rapes to the legal authorities, thus creating gender politics that is present in muted
group theory.
As mentioned in my introduction, 14% of women report sexual assault to the police
according to surveys done in Australia, England, and the U.S. (Bongiorno, McKimmie, &
Masser, 2016). Charges will be pressed on only 30% of the reported sexual assaults and 20%
will be brought to trial. I mentioned that 6.5% result in conviction (Bongiorno et al., 2016).
Sexual assault and rape of females is a problem worldwide with prosecution and conviction rates
very low (Bongiorno et al., 2016). Why is that less than half of the reported sexual assault
persecutors are being charged? Commentators believe that each sexual assault case should be

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

treated skeptically because some reports are false (Ferguson & Malouff, 2015). When females
report their assault to skeptical commentators as such, they are seen as the less powerful. They
may have to change their language in order to have their report be taken serious in order to
obtain justice. However, if their language is not changed in order to fit with the dominant group,
their report may not be apart of the 30% of sexual assault charged, 20% of the sexual assault
charges brought to trial, or the 6.5% of the convicted (Bongiorno et al., 2016).
After reading my research paper, I hope that you will now reconsider what you think of
when you hear the term rape case. I have explained the origin of muted group theory,
originally proposed by Edwin Ardener, who noticed that groups lacking power were forced to
change their communication styles in order to appease groups with more status. Next, I explained
Cheris Kramaraes approach to muted group theory as she extended that females are typically the
muted group in society seeing as language is a man-made structure. I used her approach to
muted group theory to guide through my analysis of how females who are victims of sexual
assault and/or rape are the muted group in society. Muted group theory proves that language is
not a one size fits all in society. Man created language therefore males will always be the
dominant group in society. Females will be the muted group in that perspective. This is
extremely unfortunate for those female victims who have been traumatized by sexual assault.
They are automatically put in a group of lower power based on their gender.
After learning of muted group theory of Cheris Kramarae, when you see coverage of a
rape case in the media, dont get distracted by the way the language is coded. When hearing
about these rape cases, please remember that there is a female that was assaulted against her
consent, whose voice was not heard because she simply belongs to a marginalized group. The
research used for this paper was meant to bring awareness to the victims of sexual assault and/or

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

rape that fear reporting their assault because they do not know simply how to categorize what
happened based on the terms available in our language. Although females have made much
progression over the last decades, females are still fighting to no longer be a marginalized group
by striving to assimilate with the dominant culture, separating from the dominant culture, or
accommodating with the dominant culture.

MUTED GROUP THEORY AND VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

References
Bongiorno, R., McKimmie, B. M., & Masser, B. M. (2016). The selective use of rape victim
stereotypes to protect culturally similar perpetrators. Psychology Of Women
Quarterly, 40(3), 398-413. doi:10.1177/0361684316631932
DeCou, C. R., Cole, T. T., Lynch, S. M., Wong, M. M., & Matthews, K. C. (2016).Assaultrelated shame mediates the association between negative social reactions to

disclosure of

sexual assault and psychological distress. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice,
And Policy, doi:10.1037/tra0000186
Ferguson, C. E., & Malouff, J. M. (2016). Assessing police classifications of sexual assault
reports: A meta-analysis of false reporting rates. Archives Of Sexual Behavior, 45(5),
1185-1193. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0666-2
Harris, A. K. (1999). A revolutionary view of communication; Cheris Kramarae's theory of
muted groups. Women & Language, 22(2), 54.
Kramarae, C. (2005). Muted group theory and communication: Asking dangerous
questions. Women & Language, 28(2), 55-61.
U.S., The United States Department of Justice, Attorney General. (n.d.). An updated definition of
rape.
U.S., The United States Department of Justice, Attorney General. (n.d.). Sexual assault.
Turner, L. H. (1992). An analysis of words coined by women and men--Reflections on the
muted group theory and Gilligan's model. Women & Language, 1521-26.
Wood, J. T. (2005). Feminist Standpoint Theory and Muted Group Theory: Commonalities and
Divergences. Women & Language, 28(2), 61-64.

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Worthington, N. (2005). Negotiating news representations of rape: Reporting on a college sexual

assault scandal. Media Report to Women, 33(4), 6-14. Retrieved from
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