Saturday, July 26, 2014
Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions
An example of a microaggression that I remember occurred at work. In my office the dominant culture is the American culture. Though I lived there for some time it is not my home country. I said a word and a co-worker informed me that my pronunciation was wrong and he told me the “right pronunciation.” I then proceeded to ask him what made his pronunciation more right than mine. After he made his statement I felt like he was looking down on my culture and assuming that because I am not American he knows better and knows how the word should be pronounced.
My observation experiences helped me to see that discrimination happens more often than I realized. Sometimes the offender does not realize what he or she is implying by what he or she says. At times the stereotypes that society holds about certain groups of people can become embedded in us and we do not realize it is there until something significant happens. I think we should be proactive, examine ourselves and try to find out our biases and prejudices and not wait for something to happen that will cause them to surface.
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It is quite true that most times the offender does not realize they are being harmful. It is only until they are directly affected by a microaggression themselves do they really understand the damage that can take place. Though this may not be true for everyone, for some people may understand by just hearing and being taught to do different.
ReplyDeleteKarina,
ReplyDeleteI hate to hear that your coworker made a comment to you like that. I think that people are just inconsiderate sometimes and that they do not mean any real harm. I had a Facebook friend who would correct my spelling every chance he got. I told him that if he had to be the spell check police that he could unfriend me. I didn't give him a chance to unfriend me, I unfriended him. It drove me crazy and I did not appreciate his comments on my post. He did not know that he was offending me until I told him.
Hello Karina,
ReplyDeleteSociety can be very harsh. I am sorry your co-worker made you feel that way. Ignorance is bliss. This week and this course is opening my eyes to even more ways in which people discriminate. It is the underlining but in your face kind of discrimination that has long term psychological affects on your mind and how you think about yourself. That is a very sad and alarming fact. I just want to do my part and try my best not to let my biases or preconceived notions of what I feel is correct to make someone else feel unworthy. Even though I believe I have not done this purposely, still, I need to be aware of the microagressions I can have on others, as well as microagressions towards me. Great blog post, Karina:-)