Practicing awareness of microaggressions

Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen?

In today’s time there is a lot of talk about politics.  People are trying to decide who to vote for and why.  There is so much controversy on every topic that it begins to heat up whenever people gather to discuss it.  This was the case for my observation.  I observed people in my school during lunch breaks.  The topic of politics came up between 3 teachers.  They were discussing the Marriage Amendment. Two ladies said that they were devote Christians and that they didn’t believe that two people of the same gender should be married.  One stated that she felt that all people should have the same benefits but just not change the word “marriage”.  The third lady said that she felt like it was fine to change the definition of marriage but that she didn’t like the fact that the government had been given the right to decide which people should get what.  As the conversation progressed the first lady became frustrated because she said that it was just wrong for “those people” to want to change everything to fit their needs.  The third lady asked her what she meant by “those people” and she said gay people.  She asked why they couldn’t just live the way they wanted to without wanting to change everything to fit their lifestyles. 

I found that this conversation showed examples of micro aggressions from the sexual orientation level.  It should feelings of anger and resentment as well as concern.  People didn’t want to see their lives changed and didn’t understand the lives of others.

 What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression?

During this conversation I wanted to remain unbiased so I stayed quite even though I have taken part of this same type of dialogue before.  I felt awkward listening to people discuss the fate of others as though they had the right to.  I also felt defensive because I could see how the conversation could easily change into something involving race or religion.  I understood the arguments of all the parties but it is hard to remain positive when you are so passionate about any topic.  I think this is what happened with these ladies.  They all had strong opinions and they wanted to share and maybe even get the other person to agree with their point of view.

In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people.

This observation allowed me to see how passionate and forceful people are about topics that they believe in.  People are not willing to change their opinions unless they see a strong reason to do so.  They are willing to fight, yell, and scream in order to get their points of view across.  I also see how the perceptions of which you were taught can influence your way of thinking.  The “Christian” women were strong in their feelings because this is what they had been taught their entire Christian lives.  The other woman may have been just as religious but was somewhat more laid back and willing to explore other options.