The term 'Microaggression' was coined in the 1970s by Chester M. Pierce, MD, an African American psychiatrist and professor of education and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School to describe insulting moments for black people in America. Since then, the term has been used to describe “everyday slights, invalidations, and belittlements often targeting minority or marginalized groups”.
Microaggressions are usually rooted in our unconscious stereotypes. Our body and mind enact these stereotypes through various modalities. These enactments need not be explicitly offensive, they give voice to the subtle hostilities meted out by cultures in power. The subtle nature of microaggressions enables an undetected route of harm ,i.e., through the psyche.
Let us understand microaggression with the help of a personal anecdote-
“I personally identify as queer. I am usually perceived to be an ‘effeminate’ or ‘non-masculine’ guy. While I was presenting a project in my classroom, a friend of mine (non-queer of course) was busy making a meme. He later sent the meme to the classroom group. He equated my hand gesture to a non-masculine villainous character in a popular Bollywood film. Since this friend of mine often uses meme to lighten the mood of the class, I laughed it off that instance. However, I felt reduced to a caricature.”
This particular instance, which can resonate with the social media generation, can help us understand the psychology of microaggression. At the core of this ‘meme’ is a humour that nudges against the subject in form of ridicule. The queer person in this particular situation felt uneasy and othered. The ‘good spirited’ humour had pierced through the person and could likely contribute to their social exclusion.
If we analyse the source of microaggression using the above instance, we might realise that the ‘meme artist’ was perhaps unconscious or unaware of his impact on the other person’s psyche. He would not perhaps realise that the reason why this queer person reminded him of “a non-masculine villainous character”. In such instances of microaggression, the subject/s of ridicule is/are feared because of their ‘otherness’ and this feeling is usually projected outwards. The subject becomes a ‘vulnerable’ subject, a ‘ridicule-worthy’ subject.
Meme culture has often been criticised for its role in widespread stereotyping. Microaggression in the context of India
Incidents of micro-aggression are quite common in a diverse and unequal society like India. Various marginalized communities face verbal, non-verbal, and environmental hostilities daily.
Here are examples of verbal statements that members of some non-dominant groups/communities (in India) often receive:
“You're a credit to your caste.”
“How can you manage to stay non-violent when your religion propagates violence?”
"I'm not homophobic, I have lots of friends who identify as gay.”
“I didn’t expect you to be good in English” to a colleague.
“I don’t understand the concept of using the pronouns-they/them. Why do you people make everything so difficult.”
“Why are you getting so angry? Are you on your periods?
“Your skin has become darker during the summers. Do one thing…”
None of these statements appear to be explicitly violent. However, all of them are based on predetermined and assumptive ideas (usually exclusive in nature) of who the other person should/might be. Ability, caste, class, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and other social markers determine the dynamics of microaggression in India.
Psychologist Derald Wing Sue (2010) defined three types of microaggression. Let us look at each of these forms in the context of India.
Microassaults: A microassault refers to an informed or conscious act directed towards the ‘other’ with an intent to offend them.
Microinsults: A microinsult is a comment or action that is quite subtle in its form. The person who uses microinsults are not aware of the discriminatory nature of their comments or actions.
Microinvalidations: A microinvalidation involves invalidating another person’s experiences of prejudice. An example, Indian Judges have been known to define and redefine a perfect women victim of rape. The following illustration by Indian artist @PENPENCILDRAW tells the whole story.
Community plays a huge role in a supposedly ‘non-individualistic’ society like India’s. A shared sense of belonging is both a curse and a boon.
How can we ensure to minimize the harm of overt microaggressions?
Training programs specifically designed for specific spaces like workplaces have been proved to provide individuals with an opportunity to reflect on such incidents. Such training usually includes information on the impact of social exclusion and resulting microaggression on health outcomes and should also increase awareness of one’s own biases.
Building and sustaining ‘informed-therapeutic spaces’ around us can be a long-term solution to microaggressions. Therapeutic spaces can provide individuals and groups with a much-needed reflective space to come to terms with their unconscious biases. At the same time, they can provide affirmative spaces for the ‘othered’ members of the community who fall victim to microaggression on a daily basis.
I wish to end with a quote by Carl Jung-
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
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