The Glass Ceiling
Looming on the horizon: The glass ceiling is alive and well
Looming on the horizon: The glass ceiling is alive and well
The concept of the “glass ceiling” was first recognized as an American social issue in 1986. The Wall Street Journal had published an article describing the impossible barriers that women had to confront as they tried to reach the top of the corporate ladder (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995). This invisible barrier reflects inequality and discrimination of a group of individuals. In the case of the glass ceiling that discrimination is specifically targeted toward women and minorities. Since this revelation in 1986 when America took a long and hard look at the glass ceiling, people …show more content…
Muted group theorists believe that equality as a concept should be altered. “It is necessary that there be modifications in male language behavior as well as female” (Spender, 1980). Although there may be an agreement that a gender inequality exists, people think the best way to solve this issue it by giving women what men have. Though to solve the gender gap in this way would only result in another power transfer. We would see power shifting from males to women in a muted group, thus solving nothing as we have only created a new power paradox. If we could eliminate any dominant group there would be no reason left to struggle. “Tyranny emerges only when one sex (or group) has sole access to the legitimation of experience” (Kramarae, 1989). Ardener has argued that “under the scope of muted group theory, any conflict in language meaning was always resolved in favor of the dominant group” (Spender, 1980). The cycle of imbalance solidifies a dominant group’s position in society. Since this study seems to point to the existence of muted groups in literature, this cycle may also need to be altered in order to resolve dominant groups in society. “In the hundreds of mixed-sex conversations that I have taped there are virtually no instances in which the females- at least to begin with- do not accept the male prerogative to …show more content…
Women & Language, 28(2), 50-54.
Arfken, D.E, S.L Bellar and M.M Helms. 2004. “The Ultimate Glass Ceiling Revisited: The
Presence of Women on Corporate Boards”. Journal of Business Ethics. 50, 177-186.
Agrawal, A. and Knoeber, C. (2001). Do some outside directors play a political role?
Journal of Law and Economics. 44, 13
Ballard-Reisch, D. (2010). Muted groups in health communication policy and practice: The case of older adults in rural and frontier areas. Women & Language, 33(2), 87-93.
Burnett, A., Mattern, J. L., Herakova, L. L., Kahl, D. H., Tobola, C., & Bornsen, S. E. (2009).
Communicating/Muting date rape: A co-cultural theoretical analysis of communication factors related to rape culture on a college campus. Journal of Applied Communication
Research, 37(4), 465-485.
Edelsky C. (1976). Subjective reactions to sex-linked language. Journal of Social Psychology, 99(1):97.
Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. (1995). Good for business: Making full use of the nation’s human capital. U.S Department of Labor
Foss, S., Griffin, C. (1992) A feminist perspective on rhetorical theory: Toward a clarification of boundaries. Western Journal of Communication, 56,
Looming on the horizon: The glass ceiling is alive and well
The concept of the “glass ceiling” was first recognized as an American social issue in 1986. The Wall Street Journal had published an article describing the impossible barriers that women had to confront as they tried to reach the top of the corporate ladder (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995). This invisible barrier reflects inequality and discrimination of a group of individuals. In the case of the glass ceiling that discrimination is specifically targeted toward women and minorities. Since this revelation in 1986 when America took a long and hard look at the glass ceiling, people …show more content…
Muted group theorists believe that equality as a concept should be altered. “It is necessary that there be modifications in male language behavior as well as female” (Spender, 1980). Although there may be an agreement that a gender inequality exists, people think the best way to solve this issue it by giving women what men have. Though to solve the gender gap in this way would only result in another power transfer. We would see power shifting from males to women in a muted group, thus solving nothing as we have only created a new power paradox. If we could eliminate any dominant group there would be no reason left to struggle. “Tyranny emerges only when one sex (or group) has sole access to the legitimation of experience” (Kramarae, 1989). Ardener has argued that “under the scope of muted group theory, any conflict in language meaning was always resolved in favor of the dominant group” (Spender, 1980). The cycle of imbalance solidifies a dominant group’s position in society. Since this study seems to point to the existence of muted groups in literature, this cycle may also need to be altered in order to resolve dominant groups in society. “In the hundreds of mixed-sex conversations that I have taped there are virtually no instances in which the females- at least to begin with- do not accept the male prerogative to …show more content…
Women & Language, 28(2), 50-54.
Arfken, D.E, S.L Bellar and M.M Helms. 2004. “The Ultimate Glass Ceiling Revisited: The
Presence of Women on Corporate Boards”. Journal of Business Ethics. 50, 177-186.
Agrawal, A. and Knoeber, C. (2001). Do some outside directors play a political role?
Journal of Law and Economics. 44, 13
Ballard-Reisch, D. (2010). Muted groups in health communication policy and practice: The case of older adults in rural and frontier areas. Women & Language, 33(2), 87-93.
Burnett, A., Mattern, J. L., Herakova, L. L., Kahl, D. H., Tobola, C., & Bornsen, S. E. (2009).
Communicating/Muting date rape: A co-cultural theoretical analysis of communication factors related to rape culture on a college campus. Journal of Applied Communication
Research, 37(4), 465-485.
Edelsky C. (1976). Subjective reactions to sex-linked language. Journal of Social Psychology, 99(1):97.
Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. (1995). Good for business: Making full use of the nation’s human capital. U.S Department of Labor
Foss, S., Griffin, C. (1992) A feminist perspective on rhetorical theory: Toward a clarification of boundaries. Western Journal of Communication, 56,