microaggression
nounUK /ˌmaɪ.krəʊ.əˈɡrɛ.ʃən/ · US /ˌmaɪ.kroʊ.əˈɡrɛ.ʃən/
Etymology From micro- + aggression, coined by American psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce in 1970.
1
Human sciences, Sciences, Social science, Sociology US Any small-scale verbal or physical interaction between those of different races, cultures, beliefs, or genders that may have no malicious intent, but that can be interpreted as an aggression.
- Near-synonyms: microassault, microinequity, microinsult, microinvalidation, nanoaggression
- At McGill, someone has established a McGill Microaggressions website inviting students and staff to report instances of “sexism, heteropatriarchy, transphobia, classism, racism [and] ableism.”2014 February 18, Graeme Hamilton, “McGill student forced to apologize for racial ‘microaggression’ after emailing joke Obama clip”, in National Post, retrieved 19 Feb 2014:
3 more examples
- Two terms have risen quickly from obscurity into common campus parlance. Microaggressions are small actions or word choices that seem on their face to have no malicious intent but that are thought of as a kind of violence nonetheless. For example, by some campus guidelines, it is a microaggression to ask an Asian American or Latino American “Where were you born?,” because this implies that he or she is not a real American.2015 September, Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt, “The Coddling of the American Mind”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2017:
- For many of us, microaggressions are so commonplace that it seems impossible to tackle them one at a time. Psychologists often compare them to death by a thousand cuts. The metaphor is both the subtitle to a paper that Kevin Nadal, professor of psychology at John Jay College, wrote about the impact of microaggressions on L.G.B.T.Q. youth, and the title of another paper on the health implications of black respectability politics by Hedwig Lee, professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, and Margaret Takako Hicken, research assistant professor at the University of Michigan.2020 March 3, Hahna Yoon, “How to Respond to Microaggressions”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2020:
- Ask whether microaggressions merit the same response as physical assault and the Elect do not receive this as a challenging query.2021, John H. McWhorter, chapter 6, in Woke Racism, New York: Forum, →ISBN:
- Related terms
- macroaggression, microaggress, microaggressive, microaggressor, microinvalidate