Microaggressions: what they are, how to deal with them

By Cristiano Antonino On Nov 25, 2022

Microaggressions are verbal expressions, attitudes and behaviours, intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, negative messages, insults and insults towards members of oppressed/marginalised social groups (Nadal,2010)

Microaggressions, the insidious mode of a form of violence

The prefix micro does not describe the quality nor the impact of these aggressions, rather the insidious way in which this type of discrimination occurs, making microaggressions difficult to recognise, identify and prove.

Microaggressions theory is a theoretical framework that has been applied to the study of discrimination of marginalised populations for a decade.

Initial research is by Prof. Derald Wing Sue on black people and has subsequently been applied to other social groups, such as the LGBTQIA+ community.

There are in fact racist microaggressions (based on ethnicity), sexist (based on gender inequality between men and women), religious, ableist (based on a person’s ability or disability) and homo/transphobic (based on sexual orientation and gender identity); they are the manifestation or reflection of what is considered included/excluded, superior/inferior, normal/deviant in society and thus contribute to generating and maintaining discrimination.

The types of microaggressions

D.W.Sue of Columbia University, in a publication in the American Psychologist in 2007, proposes a tripartition of the daily attacks of ‘implicit racism’ of which a person belonging to a marginalised ethnic group could be a victim:

Micro-attacks: conscious and intentional insults or gestures, such as epithets, or actions designed to favour one group over another;
Micro-insults: verbal and non-verbal acts of communication that subtly convey rudeness, tactlessness, and demean a person’s group identity or membership (e.g.: an employer at a job interview says to the black candidate: “I am convinced that the position should be filled by a competent person, regardless of ethnicity”);
Micro-aggressions: communications that demean the other person through exclusion, denial or cancellation of their feelings and experiences (e.g.: complimenting a black person’s command of language).

Microaggressions can be so pervasive and automatic in everyday interactions that they are considered innocent or harmless by the perpetrator: “No, but I was joking”, “Come on, don’t be offended!”, “Oh, how sensitive you are””, “You can’t say anything anymore””. Research has shown that being subjected to microaggressions can damage people’s mental health and generate chronic stress, depression, anxiety and reduced self-esteem.

References

D.W.Sue et al. (2007), ‘Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life. Implications for Clinical Practice”, American Psychologist

Nadal K.L., Johnston M.P. (2010), ‘Multiracial microaggressions: Exposing monoracism in everyday life and clinical practice’, in D.W.Sue (Ed.), Microaggressions and marginality: Manifestation, dynamics, and impact (pp. 123-144). John Wiley & Sons Inc.

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