What are Microaggressions?
Microaggressions are a form of subtle and often unconscious discrimination that people experience daily. These are brief and commonplace verbal, nonverbal, or environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate derogatory messages to individuals based on their membership in a marginalised group (such as class, gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, mother tongue, age, body shape, disability, or religion). The term was introduced by Psychiatrist and Harvard University Professor Chester M Pierce in 1970.
Microaggressions are often a result of deeply ingrained social attitudes that many people are not even aware they hold. While they may seem minor to those who commit them, they can have a cumulative and significant impact on the mental health and well-being of individuals who experience them regularly.
Types of Microaggressions
There are four types of microaggressions: microinsults, micro-assaults, microinvalidations and environmental microaggressions.
Microinsults are subtle remarks or actions that convey insulting messages to people based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, or another characteristic. Micro-assaults are deliberate acts of discrimination or hostility, such as racial slurs or discriminatory behaviour, while microinvalidations are actions that negate the experiences and feelings of marginalised individuals. Environmental microaggressions are assaults, insults and invalidations which are manifested on systemic and environmental level.
Examples of Microaggressions
Spotting microaggressions can be challenging, as they are often subtle and easy to overlook. However, some common examples of microaggressions include the following:
- Making assumptions about someone’s background or culture based on their appearance or name
- Interrupting or talking over someone who is speaking
- Using language that implies that a particular group is inferior or less competent than others
- Ignoring or dismissing the contributions or perspectives of people from marginalised groups
- Making jokes or comments that are derogatory towards a particular group
- Staring or giving unwarranted attention to someone because of their appearance or perceived difference.
Race or Ethnicity Examples:
- “I don’t see colour.”
- “There is no need to be so angry.”
- “You are so articulate.”
- “Can I touch your hair?”
- “Where are you really from?”
- “I can’t pronounce your name; can I call you X for short?”
- “Why don’t you have an accent?”
- “all Asians look alike”
Disability Related Microaggressions:
- “Have you got a license for that thing?”
- “At least you’ve always got a place to sit!”
- Calling something “lame” or “retarded”
- Referring to someone as “psycho” or “a total spaz”
- Jokes about someone being “bipolar” or “a psychopath”
- Saying someone is “crippled by” something instead of “limited”
- Lamenting that an idea “fell on deaf ears” or that someone “turned a blind eye”
- “I have to keep my desk clean, I’m so OCD!”
Some behavioral microaggressions include:
- Crouching down with your hands on your knees to talk to someone in a wheelchair or a little person
- Pretending that a disability doesn’t exist, instead of asking someone to share their experience
- Making assumptions that you know what someone’s limitations might be, because you have seen that disability before
- Telling someone “You’re so brave” just for existing in the same space as you
- Being paternalistic because you believe that someone needs your assistance
Further Reading:
- Standing Up to Microaggressions and Being a Good Ally
- Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions at Work
- Effects of Microaggressions
- ‘Micro refers to its subtle delivery – not its impact’
- Micro-affirmations: The power of tiny acts of inclusion
- Eliminating Microaggressions: The Next Level of Inclusion
- What is the definition of microaggression?
