Page 81 - Microaggressions in Everyday Live Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation

The Catch-22 of Responding to Microaggressions 55

the plane encounter as a singular or isolated event. She finds it difficult to see

a pattern of bias and is defended by a belief in her own morality.
Second, a decision to respond or not to respond to a potential microaggres-
sion may have complex effects on the recipient (Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, et al.,
2008; Sue, Lin, Torino, et al., 2009). One of the greatest concerns of people
of color, women, or LGBTs is the consequences of confronting perpetrators
with their actions or statements. Should a female employee who is constantly
complimented by her male boss for “ classy and sexy attire, ” but never once
acknowledged for her work contributions, confront him? Should a Latino
student who experiences a microaggression from his or her professor raise
the matter in class? How does a gay male adolescent, who hears a fellow
classmate describing another ’ s behavior as “ gay, ” deal with the remark, espe-
cially if he has not “ come out of the closet ” ? (Sue & Capodilupo, 2008). Work
on racial microaggression seems to suggest several possible reactions (Sue,
Capodilupo, et al., 2007; Sue, Nadal, et al., 2008; Sue, Capodilupo, Nadal, et al.,
2008). The most frequent reaction to microaggressions seems to be doing
nothing. This happens for several reasons.

1. Attributional ambiguity — inability to determine whether a microaggres-
sion has occurred. When a potential racial, gender, or sexual - orientation
offense occurs, heightened vigilance and attempts to make sense of the
encounter is likely to occur. Attributional ambiguity may make it very

difficult to conclude that an offense was committed. While a woman may
suspect that a remark or behavior constituted a gender microaggression,
she remains uncertain even though skeptical. In these cases, the recipient
may simply drop the matter or choose to do nothing. Certainly, the two
passengers on the plane may have chosen to do nothing because the rea-
sons given by the fl ight attendant, on the surface, appeared reasonable
and rational.
2. Response indecision — not knowing the best way or how to respond.
Even when the microaggression is obvious, the individual may experi-
ence confusion and uncertainty about how best to respond. How does

one, for example, respond to the flight attendant ’ s request to move?
Should the passengers of color simply refuse? Should they make a fuss
and ask why the three White men were not requested to move? Should
the passengers simply comply and not make a big issue out of it? If a
choice is made to respond, should the passengers express their outrage,
or try to do so in an educative and objective manner?

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