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This week we learned about
Microagressions. Microagression can be defined as the following: brief everyday
indignities, that can be verbal, behavioral or environmental, that
unintentionally (or intentionally) deliver insulting messages to others that
may cause severe psychological distress and harm. Most often, these messages
are centered around race, gender, sexual orientation, ability or religious
affiliations (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).
These microagression however
unintentional have long lasting and far-reaching consequences. Because racism
is taught and not innate, the scars of microagression can be oppressive, cumulative,
cyclical, and multi-generational. There
are several forms of microagression. They are:
·
Microassult—is outright and deliberate racism.
This equates to blatant attempts at racial slurs in order to hurt and belittle.
·
Microinsults—this form of microagression
attempts to demean a person’s racial heritage by suggesting the personal is
intellectually inferior.
·
Microinvalidation—the final form is ignoring or
making light of someone’s experiences in terms of racism; invalidating their
feelings of being discriminated against.
The hidden message within these microagressions is the
oppressive lording over another person. “I am better and more valuable as a
human than you.” Microagression works
because in our competitive nature there is always someone trying to “one up”
the next person. One person’s success means someone else must fail, or come out
as substandard and subservient.
I have witnessed and been party to many
microagressions in my lifetime. Obviously most of them have been those innocent
enough “ribbings” that we give each other about being this or that. “What a redneck!” “Where’s the flood?” “Hey
nerd, what’s up?”…all those labels we toss around to describe our friends and acquaintances. As we grow up that doesn’t really change—only
the words we use. We think we are being funny, but the truth is sometimes this “kidding”
hurts.
Probably one of the most
common microagressions I am guilty of even today is by microinvalidating
others. I think I am usually guilty of invalidating feelings of others because
I am a problem solver by nature. Most people just want you to listen to them
and understand how they feel in the situation and not solve or under appreciate
what is being said. I want to fix everything for everyone. I have been aware of this for quite some time
and realize it is a problem. It doesn’t
show empathy. I had no idea it was a
form of microagression. Learning from our expert, Dr. Sue, has been a real eye
opener.
Hello Davey,
ReplyDeleteGreat posts on micro aggressions. I agree this assignment was a real eye opener. I'm glad you were able to recognize what micro aggression you have been using with other's. This will definitely help you interact with other's in a better and meaningful way.
Thanks,
Tierra Jackson
Hi Daveylynn
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Before this week I never really realised just how damaging our words and actions can be. It is so true that those labels that we use when 'kidding' around really hurts. As a grade six teacher i would once in a while have some name calling but as the years went by I have told my students that one of my expectations that that they refrain from calling others names (giving them labels) like 'retard' 'gorgor' as i think these names can be very demeaning and hurt the person's feeling without even being aware that they were microaggressions. This week has really been an eye opener.
Thanks Davey Lynn for sharing your experiences with microaggressions and especially with microinvalidating. You gave me new insights to problem solving as I never thought of it as microinvalidating. You gave me something to think about.
ReplyDeleteDavey,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand how you feel when it comes to being a problem-solver, as I also fall into that category. As you pointed out, most of the time people just need someone to listen, but it's so hard for us to not want to reach out and "help". I have had many hard life lessons regarding this, and in recent years have made a conscious effort to hold my tongue, unless my advice was sought. Although it has been a difficult transition, I will say that there is a sense of release when I do suppress that urge to "fix" the problem. What I have learned over the years is that most people have to go "through" it to learn from it. Thank you for sharing such an intimate aspect of who you are, as it really helps pull all of what we are learning together.
Pamela