Understanding the Impact—and How to Stay Resilient
When you’re the recipient of a microaggression, you feel discomfort, whether or not you know its source. Sometimes it’s obvious, as when someone expresses surprise that you’ve attained the position you hold: “Are you really the manager?” Sometimes it's very subtle. When I was a teenager, long ago, it was assumed that girls couldn’t be good at sports. For example, in basketball, girls weren’t allowed to dribble more than twice before passing, because it was assumed they didn’t have the stamina to dribble all the way down the court. Most of the girls I knew just accepted this because it was embedded in the culture; they didn’t consciously register it as a microaggression. I didn't know that word (it hadn't been coined yet) but I knew it was a put-down.
The Impact of Microaggressions
A microaggression is an attack. It evokes a counterattack, a feeling of aggression, in the recipient. If the microaggression is obvious, the recipient will feel anger and will need to decide how to handle the situation. When it’s subtle enough to go unrecognized, the anger doesn’t disappear, it simmers beneath the surface, creating ongoing tension.
Because microaggressions are directed most often toward those in vulnerable groups (minorities, women, and others who are marginalized) they rarely happen in isolation. They accumulate, one after another, and over time the repeated exposure compounds the emotional toll.
Deleterious Effects of Repeated Microaggressions
The immediate reactions to a microaggression include increased muscle tension, elevated blood pressure, a faster heart rate, and the release of stress hormones such as cortisol. Over time, these reactions increase the risk of serious health problems, including heart disease and diabetes.
Beyond increasing these risks, repeated microaggressions create problems in other ways as well. They cause headaches, disrupted sleep, weakened immunity, chronic anxiety, depression, and in some cases even suicidal thoughts. To cope, some people turn to smoking, drinking, or overeating, behaviors that may provide temporary relief but ultimately add to the damage and never solve the problem.
Because the effects are so pervasive and harmful, it's important to find ways to deal with microaggressions as they occur.
Your Inner Guide Can Help
It Can Help You Recognize Subtle Attacks:
When the microaggression is subtle or masked by politeness, your Inner Guide can help you recognize it.
It can help you decide how to respond:
Should you confront microaggressions? "Are you really the manager?" Respond with a calm, matter of fact "Yes." That is a confrontation. It informs them that their assumption was wrong and relieves you of angry feelings.
If you have no real power in the situation, you can still complain. “We should be allowed to dribble all the way down the court.” That won't change the situation but expressing your feelings will partially dissipate your anger.
In some cases, the best response is no response: particularly if the situation feels unsafe, if your energy is depleted, if the aggressor has authority over you, or if there are so many microaggressions coming at you that you can't effectively respond to all of them.
It Will Alleviate Your Painful Feelings:
Whether or not you can respond outwardly, your Inner Guide will eliminate the emotional discomfort caused by microaggressions.
If you already have an Inner Guide and give it regular time to work, it will help you in these situations. And if you don’t yet have one, I’ll soon be offering a new way to acquire one.
