Microagressions?

8/22/16 Microagressions?

 

Have you heard this word come up a lot lately? For me, it’s kind of a new addition to my vocabulary. I frequently hear it, or see it written, in the context of someone sneering about “this weak generation who must be coddled.” (See Clint Eastwood’s comments that I won’t repeat here). Free speech in public must absolutely be protected, yet the workplace and the educational environment are not public forums. We all work in this helping field because we value and desire to support the success of all people. We’ve become increasingly familiar with the requirements of Title IX and the Civil Rights Act which prohibit outright discrimination or harassment but also the creation of a “hostile environment.”

 

Usually, those of us committing microagressions do so unintentionally. We are operating under long-standing, culture wide norms that perpetuate stereotypes that the workplace belongs to a certain group and the rest of us are basically just guests at their table. I read a story this morning about a woman (one of the few) working in a Wall Street firm who was asked to be “the woman” on a panel discussing what it’s like to be employed for the company before a group of new interns. This woman was asked what it was like for women in that company. Her cautious and tentative opinion was quickly dismissed by the three other men on the panel who insisted it was a great place for women to work. They didn’t see the irony.

 

I’m sure I can provide examples from my own daily life. Consider if I ask a coworker who mentions his spouse and respond- intending friendliness- with, “Oh, what does your wife do as a career?” Why do I assume he has a wife and not a husband? Did my attempt at being friendly just become a microagression making my coworker feel excluded? Why am I so invested in such a heteronormative mindset? I am a person who desires to be inclusive, so why is it so hard to change my modes of speech and ways of thinking? And, yet, I am responsible to do so but it takes intentionality to do so. I try to make myself aware of my communication and have apologized for such misuses of language.

 

This next example was reported in a Huffington Post article on the subject by John Fitzgerald Gates. “Following a recent interview with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, NBC’s Today show host Matt Lauer was roundly criticized for asking Barra if she could be a good mother and effective CEO of a major company. In suggesting that Barra could not balance work and motherhood, Lauer made a judgment about the competence of female executives that would never be made about male executives, like him, who are celebrated for being power players in boardrooms and great fathers at home. He advanced an erroneous and bigoted narrative that women are inferior to men. In doing so, he demeaned working mothers and damaged his own credibility on such issues.”

 

I have seen such statements made about men taking “paternity leave.” “Why does he need to stay home for several weeks after his wife has a baby? What does he have to do with all that? (paraphrase)” Because, of course, child rearing is ONLY a woman’s job? Whatever the reason, there is much sexism in that microaggressive statement. It hurts as much as calling someone the N-word because it devalues and demonstrates that someone is “less than” if they don’t fit into some antiquated and illegal cultural norm.

 

Perhaps, and hopefully, the concept of microaggressions is coming up more because we are all increasing our awareness of being more inclusive in the world around us. We are wincing and holding accountable people who comment on the hairstyle of a world class gymnast when that would NEVER have been brought up about a male or a Caucasian. We are having social media discussion of such topics and making memes about it. But, in this workplace and educational environment, we are required by law and virtue to speak up and call out such microagressions to ensure that it is inclusive of everyone and not hostile. This is our challenge. This is our mission. This conversation must continue.