Microaggression

Microaggression is a subtle form of oppression experienced by minority groups as part of everyday life. The term was originally coined to characterize the racism experienced by people of color but has since been broadened to include the microaggression encountered by women and other minority groups.

Understanding Microaggression

Any interaction either subtly or directly enforcing a person’s inferiority as a result of their group membership is a form of microaggression. Microaggression may be as subtle as continually mispronouncing a non-English-based name or as overt as asking “Where are you from?” The message, whether intentional or not, is “You are foreign, and you do not belong.”

Giving a backhanded compliment, such as saying to a transgender woman, “You’re so pretty! I never would have known you were trans,” is also a form of microaggression, as is denying the existence of discrimination and racism or saying, “I don’t see color.” Many critical theorists believe these invalidations to be the predominant form of microaggression in contemporary society.

• Treating members of minority groups as if they do not belong in particular settings
• Making racist or sexist assumptions and treating a person as if those assumptions are true
• Making racist, ageist, ableist, or sexist jokes
• Exhibiting surprise at a person of color’s intelligence or eloquence
• Telling a bisexual person to “pick a side” or assuming a bisexual person will cheat or is promiscuous
• Assuming a person with a disability has a lower quality of life than a person who is able-bodied
• Being asked to state one’s gender on forms where only “male” and “female” are offered as options
• Assuming a person of color is a janitor or assistant rather than a professor or manager
• Assuming a male medical professional to be a doctor and a female medical professional to be a nurse

Another form of microaggression is the myth of meritocracy. Meritocracy holds, erroneously, that those who are intelligent, determined, hardworking, and fundamentally good will be able to succeed and become happy, through these attributes alone. Those who do not succeed, according to meritocracy, must then be lazy, unintelligent, bad, or otherwise flawed.

This belief is considered harmful because it:

• Discounts the effects of privilege
• Falsely purports there to be equal opportunities for all
• Asserts a person’s race, sexuality, gender, or disability to have no effect on that person’s ability to achieve success
• Holds policies such as affirmative action to be “racist” because they provide “unfair advantages”
• Perpetuates stereotypes about people of color and other minority groups

Microaggression and Systemic Oppression

According to a number of feminists, race scholars, and other critical theorists, the predominant form of discrimination today is covert rather than overt. People are unlikely to use racist epithets, especially in a professional or educational setting, and they may not directly refuse to hire a person from a minority group. However, they may instead take steps—often without realizing they are doing so—to make life more uncomfortable for members of minority groups. Studies indicate, for example, men have a tendency to talk over and interrupt women and are frequently unaware they are doing this or that they exhibit this behavior more frequently with women.

Proponents of microaggression theory believe microaggression should be defined according to the feelings of the victim rather than those of the perpetrator. A heterosexual woman who tells her bisexual female friend, “I don’t know why you date women. You could get any guy you wanted!” may think she is paying her friend a compliment. However, this comment may invalidate her friend’s identity. The behavior is still considered a microaggression, no matter the intent of the behavior. When a white person insists “I don’t see color” in order to demonstrate they are not racist, they are in fact denying the significance of a person of color’s identity, cultural history, and experience. This type of statement is also considered a microaggression.

Responding to Microaggression

It may be challenging to respond to microaggression, especially when the perpetrator is a family member or other loved one. Everyday Feminism writer Aliya Khan suggests some of the following as possible responses to microaggression:

1. Offer another way to look at the situation.
2. Say “I disagree.” Depending on the situation, one may choose to simply leave it at that but may also choose to elaborate and explain why.
3. Ask questions to challenge the microaggression.
4. Change the subject.

References:

1. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
2. Khan, A. (2015, January 18). 6 Ways to Respond to Sexist Microaggressions in Everyday Conversations. Retrieved from http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/01/responses-to-sexist-microaggressions
3. Liu, A. (2015, February 25). No, You’re Not Imagining It: 3 Ways Racial Microaggressions Sneak into Our Lives. Retrieved from http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/02/ways-racial-microaggressions-sneak-in
4. Microaggressions: Power, privilege and everyday life. (n.d.). The Microaggression Project. Retrieved from http://www.microaggressions.com
5. Sue, D. (n.d.). Tool: Recognizing Microaggressions and the Messages They Sent. Retrieved from http://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/seminars/Tool_Recognizing_Microaggressions.pdf

Last Updated: 04-27-2016