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Gender Microaggressions 171

despite the presence of other empty tables, when men are served fi rst as
customers, or when women are offered less desirable or less important tasks
at a place of employment, these actions convey lesser treatment for an unde-
serving individual or group. The following quote indicates the second - class
status accorded to female athletes (Capodilupo et al., in press):
“ I guess the guys ’ teams would get you know, new uniforms every year . . . they
would get new equipment, whereas the, umm . . . the girls teams really, we kept the

same uniforms for like a good five years at a time, and our equipment wouldn ’ t be as
good, it would be broken. ”

3. Use of Sexist Language — Anthropologists were among the first to suggest

the power of language in shaping our worldviews. The patriarchal nature of
our society is reflected in the structure and content of language. Occupations,

for example, often possess titles or names that suggest male or female occu-
pancy: Chairman, policeman, repairman, mailman, doctor, airplane pilot,
fi refighter, and President of the United States evoke images of “ men ” in

powerful and active positions, while nurse, secretary, teacher, day - care worker,
receptionist, dental assistant, and clerical worker suggest images of women in
less powerful and stereotyped supportive roles. Female doctors at hospitals
often describe patients as mistaking them for nurses.
Use of the male generic pronoun ( “ he ” ), the word “ mankind, ” or the phrase
“ May the best man win ” to refer to both sexes is a practice that makes women
invisible, restricts women ’ s career/job choices, and communicates that they
are lesser beings (Nelson, 2006). “ We hold these truths to be self - evident, that
all men are created equal ” as written in the Bill of Rights is meant to ensure
egalitarian relationships that ironically neglected over half the population
of the United States (Sue, 2003). Language assumptions are so powerful
because they are invisible, yet convey strong messages to women about their
worth and roles in society (Swim, Mallett, & Stangor, 2001). Internalizing
these messages can lead to lower feelings of self - worth and competency.
4. Assumption of Inferiority — While women may be perceived in this

society as more skilled in interpersonal or social relationships, they are often
considered inferior intellectually, temperamentally, and physically (Capodilupo
et al., in press).
In 2005, then Harvard President Larry Summers (now director of President
Obama ’ s National Economic Council) suggested that innate differences between the
sexes might help explain why relatively few women become professional scientists or

engineers. His comments set off a furor with demands that he be fired. Women academi-
cians were reported to have stormed out of the conference in disgust as Summers used

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