{"id":22973,"date":"2013-12-03T17:27:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T00:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?page_id=22973"},"modified":"2016-04-27T12:08:28","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T19:08:28","slug":"microaggression","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/microaggression\/","title":{"rendered":"Microaggression"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30625\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/guard-doubting-mans-id.jpg\" alt=\"Security guard doubts black businessman&#039;s ID\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" data-id=\"30625\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/guard-doubting-mans-id.jpg 725w, https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/guard-doubting-mans-id-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Microaggression<\/strong>\u00a0is\u00a0a subtle form of oppression experienced by minority groups as part of everyday life. The term was originally coined to characterize the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/racism\" target=\"_blank\">racism<\/a> experienced by people of color but has since been broadened to include the microaggression encountered by women and other minority groups.<\/p>\n<h2>Understanding\u00a0Microaggression<\/h2>\n<p>Any interaction either subtly or directly enforcing\u00a0a person\u2019s 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\u00a0&#8220;Where are you from?&#8221;\u00a0The message, whether intentional or not, is &#8220;You are foreign, and you do not belong.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Giving a\u00a0backhanded compliment, such as saying to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/transgender\">transgender<\/a> woman, &#8220;You&#8217;re so pretty! I never would have known you were trans,&#8221; is also a form of microaggression, as is denying the existence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/prejudice-discrimination\" target=\"_blank\">discrimination<\/a>\u00a0and racism or saying, &#8220;I don&#8217;t see color.&#8221; Many critical theorists believe these\u00a0invalidations to be the predominant form of microaggression in contemporary society.<\/p>\n<p><div class=\"content-fatwidget align-right\">\n\t<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/find-therapist.html\" target=\"_blank\">Find a Therapist<\/a><\/h2>\n\t<form action=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/search-redirect.html\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t\t<input required name=\"search[zipcode]\" placeholder=\"Enter ZIP or City\" class=\"inline-input\" type=\"text\" \/>\n\n\n\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"TOS agreement\" value=\" \" class=\"inline-btn\" title=\"Search\" onclick=\"ga('send', 'event', 'FAT Widget', 'Submit Search', 'Sidebar', {nonInteraction: true});\" \/>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/advanced-search.html\" title=\"Advanced Search\" onclick=\"ga('send', 'event', 'FAT Widget', 'Advanced Search', 'Sidebar', {nonInteraction: true});\" >Advanced Search<\/a>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>The following behaviors are\u00a0a few\u00a0examples of microaggression:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Treating members of minority groups as if they do not belong in particular settings<\/li>\n<li>Making racist or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/sexism\" target=\"_blank\">sexist<\/a> assumptions and treating a person as if those assumptions are true<\/li>\n<li>Making racist, ageist, ableist, or sexist jokes<\/li>\n<li>Exhibiting surprise at a person of color&#8217;s intelligence or eloquence<\/li>\n<li>Telling a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/bisexuality\">bisexual<\/a> person to &#8220;pick a side&#8221; or assuming a bisexual person will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/infidelity\">cheat<\/a> or is promiscuous<\/li>\n<li>Assuming a person with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/disabilities\">disability<\/a> has a lower quality of life than a person who is able-bodied<\/li>\n<li>Being asked\u00a0to state one&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/gender\">gender<\/a> on forms where\u00a0only &#8220;male&#8221; and\u00a0&#8220;female&#8221; are offered as options<\/li>\n<li>Assuming a person of color is a janitor or assistant rather than a professor or manager<\/li>\n<li>Assuming a male medical professional to be a doctor and a female medical professional to be a nurse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another form of microaggression is the myth of meritocracy. Meritocracy holds, erroneously, that those who are intelligent, determined, hardworking, and\u00a0fundamentally 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.<\/p>\n<p>This belief is considered harmful because it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Discounts the effects of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/privilege\">privilege<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Falsely purports there to be equal opportunities for all<\/li>\n<li>Asserts\u00a0a person&#8217;s race, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/sex-and-sexuality\">sexuality<\/a>, gender, or disability to have no effect on that person&#8217;s\u00a0ability to achieve success<\/li>\n<li>Holds policies such as affirmative action to be &#8220;racist&#8221; because they provide &#8220;unfair advantages&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Perpetuates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/stereotype\">stereotypes<\/a> about people of color and other minority groups<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Microaggression and Systemic Oppression<\/h2>\n<p>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\u2014often without realizing they are doing so\u2014to make life more uncomfortable for members of minority groups. Studies indicate, for example, men have a tendency\u00a0to talk over and interrupt women and are frequently unaware they are doing this\u00a0or that they exhibit this behavior more frequently with women.<\/p>\n<p>Proponents of microaggression theory believe\u00a0microaggression 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, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know why you date women. You could get any guy you wanted!&#8221; may think she is paying her friend a compliment. However, this comment may invalidate her friend&#8217;s identity. The behavior is still considered a microaggression, no matter the intent of the behavior. When a white person insists &#8220;I don&#8217;t see color&#8221; in order to demonstrate they are not racist, they are in fact denying the significance of a person of color&#8217;s identity, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/culture\">cultural<\/a> history, and experience. This type of statement is also considered a microaggression.<\/p>\n<h2>Responding to Microaggression<\/h2>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Offer another way to look at the situation.<\/li>\n<li>Say &#8220;I disagree.&#8221; Depending on the situation, one may choose to simply leave it at that but may also choose to elaborate and explain why.<\/li>\n<li>Ask questions to challenge the microaggression.<\/li>\n<li>Change the subject.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>References:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Bonilla-Silva, E. (2003). <em>Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States<\/em>. Lanham, MD: Rowman &amp; Littlefield.<\/li>\n<li>\n<div id=\"copy-target-11388164\" class=\"bibliography-item-copy-text content col-md-12\" data-clipboard-target=\"copy-target-11388164\" data-redirect-target=\"\/items\/11388164\/copy\">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<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div id=\"copy-target-11382108\" class=\"bibliography-item-copy-text content col-md-12\" data-clipboard-target=\"copy-target-11382108\" data-redirect-target=\"\/items\/11382108\/copy\">Liu, A. (2015, February 25). No, You\u2019re Not Imagining It: 3 Ways Racial Microaggressions Sneak into Our Lives. Retrieved from http:\/\/everydayfeminism.com\/2015\/02\/ways-racial-microaggressions-sneak-in<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Microaggressions: Power, privilege and everyday life. (n.d.). The Microaggression Project. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.microaggressions.com<\/li>\n<li>\n<div id=\"copy-target-11381454\" class=\"bibliography-item-copy-text content col-md-12\" data-clipboard-target=\"copy-target-11381454\" data-redirect-target=\"\/items\/11381454\/copy\">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<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microaggression\u00a0is\u00a0a 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\u00a0Microaggression Any interaction either subtly or directly enforcing\u00a0a person\u2019s inferiority as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2373,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"psychpedia.php","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22973","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}