MUTED GROUP THEORY

Muted Group Theory presents the idea that concerning power and how it is exploited against people. According to Muted Group Theory, men and women are different because men are more powerful than women. It is said that men are the ones who created meaning for the culture and thus, the society sees their ideas. Women, on the other hand, are discarded when it comes to expressing meaning which leaves women as a muted group or in other words they are not heard (The Glaring Facts, 2011). In this case, silence is build through an understanding of who holds the power (men) and who does not (women).

Women are ridiculed and they are not important enough to listen to but women are expected to be supportive listeners to men. It is said that women talk about pointless things because they only know how to gossip, nag and whine.

For example :

This can be seen in various cultures and rituals especially in a wedding ceremony where the bride is “delivered” to the groom; father “gives her away” to the groom.

The idea that the bride wears a veil (cover) and a white wedding gown is a sign of that she has been “sealed” by the groom. And lastly, when the couple is pronounced to be “husband” and
“wife”, the bride is no longer keep her maiden’s name and changes her last name to the groom’s instead. This shows the inferiority of the bride.

Another example can be illustrated in street harassment where men have power over public spaces where women walk and they may receive “compliments”.

Sexual harassment is another way of telling women do not belong in the field (Griffin, 2012).

In conclusion, Muted Group Theory declares that if men start listening to women, they might lose their positions to women and allow them to be equal partners. However, as for the study of signs such as the wedding ceremony, it is the result of our values and beliefs that have been passed down from one generation to another.

References :

Griffin, E. (2012). A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton: McGraw Hill.

Muted Group Theory. Accessed on 15^th April 2012 from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/theory/mutedgrp.html

The Glaring Facts, (2011). Accessed on 15^th April 2012 from http://www.theglaringfacts.com/communications/muted-group-theory/

GENDERLECT THEORY

The idea of Genderlect Theory is how the opposite sex, men and women have different evaluation about communication. Its goal is to recognize and understand the language of opposite sex and at the same time to accomplish mutual respect and understanding (Griffin, 2012). According to Tannen (1990), in order to create a significant connection with others, women tend to use rapport talk. This is because women are more attracted in establishing connection and liking. On the other hand, men tend to use report talk because they are rather attracted to respect and status.

Tannen (1990) also suggested that both men and women use language differently where they speak different dialects or in this case, it is called genderlects.

For example :

A young lady is nervous and worried at the same time, hoping to hear from the man she went on a date with recently. She is very concerned with the bond that they have made on their first date and so eager to wait for his call. In this case, the lady is trying to develop and maintain the relationship. The man on the other hand is doing nothing but waiting for her to call him too. His action tells how he wants to be seen as an independent, strong and competitive man which makes him look good. Basically, this symbolizes his status.

Knowing how this relationship goes, the young lady started to  express her emotions and share her personal feelings with her own best friend (rapport talk) while on the other hand, the guy directly tells his circle of friends as if he is reporting at work gain respect intentionally to gain respect (report talk).

After a while, the lady came to the see the guy and confronted him, telling him that she wanted to talk. This action represents how the lady wants to talk because she wants to interact. On the other hand, the guy started to fall for her but he just did not know how to tell and that he wanted to make it brief. The theory suggested that men talk to get things done. Each gender has its own dialect although they speak the same language; which means that although the guy feels the same way, they have different dialects to express the way the feel.

In conlusion, Genderlect Theory shows how easy it is for both men and women to misinterpret the words and actions of others. Thus, this theory promotes mutual understanding and respect both genders’ way of delivering or expressing their emotions.

References :

Griffin, E. (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton : McGraw Hill.

Tannen, D. (1990). You Just Don’t Understand. New York: Ballantine.

UNCERTAINTY REDUCTION THEORY

Uncertainty Reduction Theory’s aim is to understand and see how people act and react to each other during the first encounter. Uncertainty often occurs when two strangers first meet because it is normal for people to be uncomfortable at first. When this happens, they try to increase predictability. However, when they both interact with each other, the discomfort usually decreases as communication continues. Over time, as the relationship develops, and intimacy increases, the uncertainty decreases (Griffin, 2012).

For example :

I am taking one of my favorite movies as an example ; Guess Who starred by Ashton Kutcher as Simon Green, his girlfriend, Zoe Saldana as Theresa and Theresa’s father, Bernie Mac as Percy Jones.

Percy Jones, an African-American, is very protective of his daughter and her future, Theresa. 

So one day, Theresa decided to introduce her boyfriend, Simon Green to her parents. Percy Jones know that his daughter is dating someone who has a promising future; great job, good investments but little did he know, Simon Green is white.

When Theresa brought Simon home to meet her parents, her father was surprised to know that Simon is white. Percy Jones did not approve his daughter dating Simon because he is white. He interrogated Simon to make him feel that he is not good enough for his daughter. There is never a steady interaction between Percy Jones and Simon because of the uncertainty they both feel which makes them to feel uncomfortable with each other.

During the dinner, it started awkwardly but eventually the family started to like Simon because they think his jokes are funny. In this case, Simon tried to impress Theresa’s family by making jokes. So in this case, the uncertainty decreases until he unconsciously made an offensive black joke because he gets so nervous. The family was so angry that they kicked him out of the house and suggested him to stay at the hotel. But it is unfortunate for the family the hotel was full and Simon had to sleep in the basement with Percy Jones. They never got over their differences until the family members got fed up with their attitudes and decided to get out of the house and stay at their relatives.

During this phase, both Percy Jones and Simon Green, they talked over their differences and worked things out. In this case, their uncertainty level started to increase and they started to feel comfortable with each other.

However, Uncertainty Reduction Theory did state that when two strangers meet, the first thing they seek is to reduce uncertainty (The Glaring Facts, 2011). In this example, it does not exemplify the stated theory because although Simon Green wanted to be approachable and acted nicely, Percy Jones, did not even try to communicate; to reduce certainty when he met Simon Green for the first time.

Griffin, E. (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton : McGraw Hill. 

The Glaring Facts (2011). Uncertainty Reduction Theory. Accessed on 14th April 2012 from http://www.theglaringfacts.com/communications/comm-theories/uncertainty-reduction-theory/

COMMUNICATION ACCOMMODATION THEORY

Communication Accommodation Theory is a theory in which people adjust or minimize their speech in a most assuring way to fit certain situations to communicate with others.

As stated by Griffin in his book, A First Look At Accomodation Theory (2012) the 3 ways to adapt to this theory are :

1)  Convergence – it is when people alter their speech patterns for the sake of impersonating whom they are with.

2) Divergence – it is when people change their actions so that it holds opposing views from the other person’s behavior.

3) Over Accommodation – it is when people make several attempts and overdo it in an exaggerated manner for a reason to modify and respond to others. Others usually find this unpleasant.

For example :

I remember watching this Indonesian Drama last week about two young couple who have opposite behavior and personality. Andika and Amanda who grew in totally different phase of life. Andika came from a rich and well-mannered elite family, while Amanda came from a working class family and is very eccentric. Both of them have been dating for a while and one day Andika decided to bring Amanda home and introduce her to his family. 


In preparation to meet Andika’s family, Amanda tried to crawl out of her comfort zone by dressing properly and dolling up; wearing a dress as if she is going to go out for a romantic dinner. Seeing that, Andika was so surprised because normally Amanda would wear something unladylike ; short baggy pants, t-shirt and a cap. Amanda explained to him that she just wanted them to like her. In this case, we can clearly tell that Amanda is trying to impress Andika’s parents by dressing up and act they way that she should. She also changed her voice so that it sounds proper when she talked to his parents. Her speech changes and this relates to Communication Accommodation Theory that language is a sign about social status. Clearly, Amanda is accommodating Andika’s parents because she knew the expectations Andika’s parents want for Andika’s girlfriend.

It is obvious that language and behaviors are very useful in determining the social status of a person. Amanda used convergence with regards of her outfit. Divergence was spotted when Andika’s young sister skipped dinner with the family because she did not like Amanda from the moment she saw her. Over-accommodation was not shown in the example as Amanda did not show anything that might offend his family especially Andika’s parents. Overall, Communication Accommodation Theory can be tied to many situations. Often times, people tend to alter their speech and behavior to accommodate others.

References :

Griffin, E (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton :McGraw Hill.

CULTURAL STUDIES

Culture studies can be defined as how a group of people creates meaning and shares the same interpretation. Culture is made up of the values, traditions and beliefs of a group of people. A simple explanation would be about how our traditional culture works. For example, our culture guides us to dress appropriately, respect the elders, how to talk to people and how to greet people.

Visual culture is the symbols or signs that interpret a certain culture. For example, a flag represents a country and a dove represents peace. However different cultures have different interpretations of these signs.

Discourses and ideologies involve a context coded by tradition, religion, law and culture. It is used to understand the society. Politics, according to Stuart Hall, is a struggle over meaning (Griffin, 2012). Mass media, especially television usually program the dominant ideology (Craig & Tracy).

For example :

Discourse: Spiderman.

Ideologies: Portrays masculinity, down to earth, hero, sincerity, responsibility and sacrifice.

Politics: Politics of masculinity and politics of individuality.

Discourse: Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Ideologies: Heterosexual relationship, class boundaries, family conflict, beautiful and loyal woman, love without prejudice.

Politics: Politics of Heterosexuality in cartoons; Politics of class; Politics of femininity and masculinity.

Discourse: Red Ranger (Power Rangers)

Ideologies: guns are for boys, color red represents strong, masculine, violence are common in men, responsible and protective.

Politics: Politics of consumerism; politics of color and gender; politics of masculinity and politics of action figures.

As a conclusion, it is said that mass media have a greater power in shaping our perception and therefore they can easily interpret things the way they want by encoding messages in. for example, using an advert. However, Stuart Hall argues that we can eliminate these messages. And that is the reason why he would rather study cultures rather than media.

References :

Griffin, E. (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton College : McGraw Hill.

Craig, R.T & Tracy, K. Stuart Hall Cultural Studies. Accessed on 12^th April 2012 from  http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Theory/culturalstudies/index.htm

The Glaring Facts, (2011). Stuart Hall And Cultural Studies. Accessed on 13^th April 2012 from http://www.theglaringfacts.com/communications/comm-theories/stuart-hall-cultural-studies/

SOCIAL PENETRATION THEORY

The social penetration theory states that as relationships develop, communication starts to grow and intimacy occurs, it then goes deeper and deeper into private and personal matters.

We all have personality’s structures in which it is multi-layered; like an onion. Both depth and breadth are associated to the Onion Model. The outer layer is the public self, where we share a wide variety of topics (breadth). This usually happens in the early stage of relationship while on the other hand, the inner layer is when we personally reveal things about ourselves and get to a greater depth of intimacy (depth). It is the idea how open and close someone can become with another person. 

It is possible to have breadth without depth and even depth without breadth (Griffin, 2012).

Breadth without depth

For example : a simple everyday conversation between two students in school. They both talk only up to the point where they reach the breadth layer. For instance, they ask what subjects they take this semester and how well are they coping up with school. This involves the orientation stage and may reach up to exploratory stage too.

Depth without breadth

For example : a conversation between two persons who are interested in photography club. As they both are interested in photography, they tend to talk about it and open up and express different things towards photography what how they feel towards different context of photography. It goes deeper up to the point where they are so comfortable with each other to share thoughts and opinions about their mutual interest. Different thoughts and arguments may arise. This kind of conversation involves the exploratory stage, affective stage and may reach up to stable stage too.

The act of wanting to share or self-disclosure leads to reciprocity. This usually happens in the early stage of relationship. It is said that penetration is rapid at the start but starts slowing down as more layers are peeled away.

However  the process of withdrawal or depenetration occurs when the relationship goes up to the point where one or more of the individuals no longer feeling comfortable to communicate with the other on a personal level and thus taking a step back.

For example :

In the photography club example earlier, when one gets too comfortable, the person starts to criticize the other’s opinions or work consciously or unconsciously. He makes it clear that the other person can never be good as him. This makes the other person to feel offended and thus a withdrawal occurs. This can lead the termination of the relationship.

In conclusion, the process of social penetration often involves in communication and social interaction. It starts from every day simple conversations of two or more work mates to a personal conversation with a family member, best friend or even lover.

However, there are certain criticism of the theory that are failed to be supported by real-life data. For example as relationships goes weak, self disclosure often upturns.  And the original theory stated that there are no gender differences in vulnerability, but a research has found that males are less to open up than females.

References :

Social Penetration Theory. Accessed on 12^th April 2012 from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/theory/spt.html

Social Penetration Theory. Accessed on 12^th April 2012 from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/cultural-studies/social-penetration-theory

Social Penetration Theory. Accessed on 12^th April 2012 from https://www2.mcdaniel.edu/rtrader/com1102/socialpenetrationtheory.pdf

AGENDA SETTING THEORY

Agenda Setting Theory tries to explain how media manipulates our thinking. This theory believes that the things that are informed in the media influences what we think and that although the media are powerful but we are still free to choose or consider newsworthy.

The agenda setting function is 4 part –process :

a)   Media Agenda – Issues on which the media focuses on.

b)  Public Agenda – Issues discussed and relevant to the public.

c)   Policy Agenda – Issues that the government consider important.

d) Corporate Agenda – Issues that the business or corporate people pay attention to.

    According to Spring (2002) gatekeeping is a cycle of stages that news have to go through before it is out for publicity. It is then to be decided whether or not the news is to be seen or heard.

For example : America’s Next Top Model reality show. It controls the interests of the public targeted especially at women. They are convinced that super thin women are beautiful, followed by super fabulous fashion trend going on today. So in this case, some women would find it interesting and some women would start to feel insecure about their appearances.

That exactly what media is trying to do; it not only makes us what to think about it, but also tells us how and what to think about it, and perhaps even what to do about it. This shows how media have larger influences on the audiences. Although most people feel or think that the same issues are important, others may feel or think otherwise about the issues at hand (Agenda Setting Theory, 2001). For example, to some women or other people, size does not matter and their idea of beautiful does not necessarily rely on figures.

Framing discusses how the media frames the news that people tend to think, understand and distinguish it differently.

For example : the war between India and Pakistan. It was framed in different ways in both of the countries. So it all depends on which media you view because you will get different perception.

 In conclusion, I think that Agenda Setting Theory can only show that media agendas affect some people, on some issues, some of the time. And in some cases, it mostly has cognitive rather than affective focus.

   References :

  Agenda Setting Theory, (2001). Accessed on 12^th April 2012 from http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/agenda.htm

 Spring, M.S. (2002) Agenda Setting on 12^th April 2012 from http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~johnca/spch100/7-4-agenda.htm

MEDIA ECOLOGY

The term Media Ecology is coined by Neil Postman (1970) which defines as the study of media environments. He stressed on how media of communication shapes human perception, thought, feeling and value; and how our interaction with media assists or obstructs our living (Postman, 1970).

Media are crucial. For example, we read newspapers, watch tv and log onto the web every day, and this has relevance to what McLuhan stated, that media has fundamentally changed our lives (Levinson, 2000).

McLuhan boldly stated that the medium is the message (Griffin, 2012). He believed that medium and the message is one and the same.

For example : Getting a message (inbox) on Facebook from an admirer would make the person who received the message excited because the idea of ‘inbox’ is somewhat “inviting.” And that was before he read the entire message. So clearly, in this case, McLuhan’s theory of the medium is relevant.

The content of the medium changes when the medium changes (Griffin, 2012). This can be explained through a simple example of television and radio. Televisions and radios both have the same function; to deliver message. However, if a person listens to an information through the radio, he/she might misinterpret the content of the message because there is no visual aid to support the way the message is delivered. Unlike the radio, people listen and watch televisions; so they receive the message through hearing and watching. Therefore, the message is clearer.

Another example is an adaptation of a book to a film/movie. The content of the medium is derived from medium to medium. For example, the Harry Potter books made into a series of movie. It changes the original content of the medium.

However, in our generation today, there is a possibility that maybe, the medium is not a message; that the medium and the message are different. For example, Twitter and Facebook are just alternatives of connecting people. The Flickr is another example how this can be explained. The Flickr is a photo sharing service where it only allows users to upload photos of them. It has no way for others to even provide social validation by liking them.

References :

Griffin, E. (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton College : McGraw Hill.

Levinson, P. (2000) McLuhan And Media Ecology. Assessed on 12^th April 2012 from http://www.media-ecology.org/publications/MEA_proceedings/v1/McLuhan_and_media_ecology.html

Postman, N. (1970) The shape of the future in American secondary education. New York : Pitman.

Strate, L. (2004). A Media Ecology Review. Fordham University : CSCC

SEMIOTICS

In its shortest definition, semiotics is the study of signs. Signs are not only created in the form of words, but also in the form of images, sounds, gestures and objects. According to Aarhus (2004) they do not just convey meanings but also represent a context in which meanings are constructed.

The sign consists of two components. There are, the signifier (the printed image) and the signified (the idea or the meaning of the image). According to Bathes (Griffin, 2012) the combination of the two—the villainous body—is the sign.

Signifier + Signified = Sign

Let’s take my favorite childhood movie as an example; Beauty and the beast. The part where Belle wanted to save her kidnapped father, she had to face the beast in his castle.

From what I understand, sight is one of the senses which forms the signifier. In this case, from the moment Belle saw the beast, the fear that she felt is considered to be the “sign.” The beast is the signifier. Belle’s fear of the beast is the signified. So in this case, Belle's fear of the beast is signified by the subject, which is the wolf.

Another example is the sense of hearing. The roar of the beast before Belle saw him is considered to be the signifier. This made Belle feel scared and produced a mental image indicating danger. This is the signified.

This also applies to smell, touch and taste. For example, Durian. The smell of Durian, the texture of the skin and the taste of the fruit are the “signifiers.” So, when we smell, touch and taste the fruit, it sends a message to the brain and we have an image in our heads; Durian. This is the “signified.” Durian is the “sign.”

Denotation is defined as the literal description of a sign or a signifier. For example:

Denotation : A beautiful young lady with dark brown hair wearing a beautiful bright yellow dress exchanges glances while dancing with a huge, hideous creature with sharp fangs in blue suit.

Connotation is a metaphor or what a sign represents. For example :

Connotation : falling deeply in love and the celebration of two lovers.

References :

Aarhus (2004). What Is Semiotics? Accessed on 7th April 2012 from http://www.sociosemiotics.net/files/whatissemiotics.pdf

Griffin, E. (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory. Wheaton College : McGraw Hill.

The Theory Behind Media Literacy. Accessed on 7th April 2012 from  

 http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/mjodonnell/cojo232/pdf/semiotics.pdf