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Delve into the essential Critical Feminist Theories and their impact on communication studies, including Muted Group Theory and perspectives on gendered discourse.
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Critical Theories Dr Mrs Anisa Mujawar
Critical Theory • Necessary to study the lived experience of real people • Critical theorists examine social conditions to bring hidden structures to light. • Critical theories align themselves with the interests opposed to those of the dominant culture.
Some CT • Feminist Theory • Habermas and universal pragmatics • Dwight Conquergood and performance studies • Ex: biblical prophets
First: Conquergood • Perspective: Critical Cultural Politics -ex: Four Seasons by Marc Chagall -ex: Chagall -Or go to www.google.com and type in Chicago and Chagall. Then visit the windy city and its art.
Feminist Theory as CT • Introduction • Great Reasons to be a Guy or “Why Women are Jealous of Men • How to impress a women/men • Haters of Men=Misindry • Haters of Women=Misogyny
CT Theory • Remember CT’s think a lot about oppression • Mission: to challenge/change things • Use semiotics, poststructuralism, hermeneutics, whatever-they are rhetorical theories really
Back to Feminism • A spectrum from liberal to radical • Liberal=equal rights • Radical=rejects entire patriarchal nature of society
Two Approaches of F. • Inclusion stage=more public recginition for contributions of women • Revisionist stage=challenge definitions used to characterize communication in society “constructionist theory”
Muted Group Theory • Based on notion that public discourse is dominated my masculine language • Based on notion presented by Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in that the way we talk is the way we think and see or linguistic determinism
More on Muted • Women uncomfortable to express in public • Women monitor their own communication more intensely • Women translate what they feel into male terms before speaking • Masculine tends to win out whenever it conflicts with feminine expressions
Women's Special Characteristics • Women express themselves with more difficulty • Women understand men’s meanings more easily then vice versa • Women create their own meaning outside male system ex: Foss “Women Speak” • Women tend to express more dissatisfaction about communication than do men
More • Women often make efforts to change the dominat rules of communication. • Women are traditionally less likely to coin new words that become popular in society at large. • Ex: Now for a revision