Muted Group Theory and Walt Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”

When Walt Disney released its adaptation of Hans Christian Andersens The shortsighted Mermaid, it had become a box-office hit. Yet, the movie captured the attention non just of young girls back in the late 1980s, but sociologists and anthropologists as well since the movie became a perfect example of what they had termed as the muted congregation supposition. In this paper, the concept of the muted group theory as proposed by Cheris Kramarae will be discussed as well as supporting evidences seen in lodge in general and in the movie of Walt Disneys The Little Mermaid.Kramaraes Muted Group TheoryAccording to Cheris Kramarae, language is something that was constructed by troops. The volumes and thoughts of wowork force argon ignored in our society. Because of this, it is difficult for women to express their experiences as opposed to men. Kramarae further stated that language does not serve all its speakers in an equal expressive style regardless of the culture because women be not as free as men to say what they want, when they want and where they want. Men have a dominant agree of society and how the members of society should express themselves.As such, different terms are used to describe tasks done by both phallics and females even when they are doing the pack same thing. It is also because of this that most sexual suggestions that are considered degrading are usually referring to women than to men (Anderson & Haddad, 2005 Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992 Epstein, 1986 Griffin, 2003 Prentice, 2005 West, 1983). In order for women to express themselves to others, they must do so as how males express themselves (Epstein, 1986 Griffin, 2003 Rogers. 1978 Stets & Burke, 1996).The concept that women are a muted group was first proposed by Edwin Ardener. Edwin Ardener was an anthropologist who discovered that a group becomes mute due to the deprivation of power that is experienced of a group with a low status. Ardener called the theory the muted group theor y because these muted groups are resemblingn to black holes since they are muffled, over requireed and invisible (Griffin, 2003 Prentice, 2005 Rogers, 1978).Muted Group Theory in Todays SocietyAlthough todays society stresses on equality in the midst of the male and female grammatical genders, various sociologists, linguistics and anthropologists have gathered substantial evidences to show that the muted group theory proposed by both Ardener and Kramarae are settle down evident.In a classroom which is composed by both male and female, female students tend not to speak as confidently as their male classmates. They also speak in class less frequently than males. In events that the females do participate in class, they do not talk as brazen or as candidly as males do.This is because it is the social norm that females should be polite and restrained while the males are assertive and vocal (Anderson & Haddad, 2005 Canada & Pringle, 1995 Epstein, 1986 Walker, Ilardi, McMahon & Fennel, 1996). Because of this norm instilled in women at an early age, women more(prenominal) often avoid confrontations and direct disagreements even after completing their academic degrees (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992).In the workplace, women tend to be subordinate to men. For example, women in the military are not deployed in combat as often as men. In the academic community, most of the academic departments and schools of knowledge recognize the contributions of men rather than women (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992 Walker, Ilardi, McMahon & Fennel, 1996). Also, what many would be considered as a powerful speech when used by man will not to be as rough-and-ready if the same speech is delivered by a woman (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992 Epstein, 1986 West, 1983).In the study of cultures and societies, research would only focus on the information given by male informants and would ignore the information received from female informants since the researchers assumes that women are les s articulate than men, causing anthropologists not being able to understand women. As a result, lodge in in female roles and status had slowly diminished since many researchers view males were more important in society than females (Ardener, 1985 Prentice, 2005 Rogers, 1978).Muted Group Theory in The Little MermaidWhen Kramarae began her research on the muted group theory, she used cartoons as the basis of her study (Griffin, 2003). For this paper, the cartoon that was selected is Walt Disneys adaptation of Hans Christian Andersens The Little Mermaid.This paper will be focusing on one scene in the movie which is that between Ariel, the mermaid who wanted to become a human more than anything in the world, and Ursula, the sea witch. After an argument with her father, Ariel visits Ursula in her lair under the impression that she could be able to give her the very thing her heart want to become human and to be with the human prince Eric.Ursula told her that she is will be able to make her into a human being for three days. In order for her to be able to remain human permanently, she would have to be kissed by the prince as a symbol of his true love for her. If she fails, she would go back to being a mermaid. As payment for this, Ursula demanded Ariel her voice (Clements & Musker, 1989).As previously mentioned, one of the premise of Kramarae on the muted group theory, in order for a woman to be able to express herself, she must do so the mien how men express themselves (Epstein, 1986 Griffin, 2003 Rogers. 1978). This is clearly explained by the character of UrsulaThe men up there dont like a lot of blabber. They think a girl who gossips is a bore. Yes, on land its much preferred for ladies not to say a word and after all, dear, what is idle prattle for? Come on, theyre not all that impressed with conversation. True gentlemen avoid it when they can. But they dote and swoon and fawn on a lady whos withdrawn. Its she who holds her tongue who gets her man (Menken & Ashman, 1989).Here, Ursula had advised Ariel what a human woman should be like. Since Ariel mentioned that she would want to remain human and the only way to get that is for the prince to fall in love with her, the only way for her to do so is to act like a proper human woman would.Indeed, the sure norms in human societies are based on the activities, value and expressions of males. Hence, the means of how women interact with others are considered to be improper (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992 Stets & Burke, 1996).In the movie, Ariel has been known for her beautiful apprisal voice. This made Ariel more superior than anyone in the kingdom. It was because of her voice that she is not only the favorite of King Triton among his daughters, but also the modestness why in spite of her age, she is sense of smelled up upon by her siblings (Clements & Musker, 1989). Ariels ability to sing can be likened to the way how a woman would express herself in society.The ability for a woman to exp ress herself as a woman would give her a separate identity and thus give her a superiority that may check that of a man, or even surpass it. Furthermore, her ability to save Erics life during the storm shows how a woman could be able to surpass the capabilities of a man given the opportunity.By stripping her of her ability to sing, Ariel is also stripped of the very thing that would set her apart from everyone else, her ability to sing. This is the very thing reason why women are considered a muted group by many sociologists and anthropologists. The act of a man listening to a woman would mean that the man would be denouncing their dominant position in society because men view discussions initiated by women as not to have any importance (Dras, 1986 Epstein, 1986 Griffin, 2003).For this reason, cultural plaque had prejudged and excluded art, poetry, plays and films created by women (Ardener, 1985 Epstein, 1986 Griffin, 2003) since it is a way for women to express themselves through various forms. Also, since she had been used to swimming, being given legs made her vulnerable since she is not able to do things on her own. As such, the roles of Eric and Ariel have become reverse with Ariel becoming dependent to Eric to teach her how to walk, showing his dominance over her.ConclusionInitially, the muted group theory would get on to be sexist in nature since it puts females at a disadvantage in society. Given the premises proposed by both Ardener and Kramarae, however, the muted group theory sheds light on the reason why society even today still refers to women as the inferior sex. The muted group theory had proposed that the gender disparity experienced in society particularly in how women express themselves lies on the fact that society is a patriarchal society, meaning that societys norms and values are based on the norms and values of the male gender. Movies such as Walt Disneys The Little Mermaid have shown that in spite of the ability of the female gender to express itself, society prohibits them to do so.ReferencesAnderson, D. M. & Haddad, C. J. (March 2005). Gender, voice, and learning in online courseenvironment. Journal of asynchronous learning networks, 9(1), 3-14.Ardener, S. (October 1985). The social anthropology of women and feminist anthropology.Anthropology today, 1(5), 24-26.Canada, K & Pringle, R. (July 1995). 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