Page 68 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

CHAPTER THREE

The Psychological

Dilemmas and Dynamics

of Microaggressions

Our taxonomy of microaggressions provides us with a clear understanding of
the medium by which they are delivered (verbal, behavioral, and environ-
mental), the forms they take (microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation),
the overt or hidden messages they deliver (offensive themes), and specifi c
examples of their manifestations. Yet, how they impact people of color, women,
and LGBTs, the psychological dilemmas they present for both recipients and
perpetrators, and the internal (intrapsychic) and interpersonal dynamics have
been an understudied phenomena (Inzlicht & Good, 2006; Sol ó rzano, Ceja, &
Yosso, 2000; Sue, Capodilupo, et al., 2007). While the example below is used to
illustrate the dilemmas and dynamics posed by racial microaggressions, it is
important to note that the principles and processes uncovered appear similar
to subtle gender and sexual-orientation offenses as well.

I [Derald Wing Sue, the author, an Asian American] recently traveled with an

African American colleague on a plane flying from New York to Boston. The
plane was a small “ hopper ” with a single row of seats on one side of the aisle and
a double row on the other. Because there were only a few passengers, we were

told by the flight attendant (White) that we could sit anywhere, so we sat close to
the front, across the aisle from one another. This made it easy for us to converse
and provided a large, comfortable space for both of us. As the attendant was about

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