本期新词

Microaggression

如果你听出了今天标题的不适感，那么恭喜你已经get到了这期节目的精髓。

不知道你是否有过这样的经历：

表面上看，对方并没有什么露骨的攻击，可ta的言行举止分明在进行有意或者无意的轻视、怠慢、诋毁和侮辱。

从服装店员对你体型的上下一扫眼，看似客气实则冷漠地说“我们这里没有合适的尺码”;

到同事的一句“夸":“没想到你作为女生，竟然也能做得这么好！”

听着像是在肯定你的工作，但又总感觉哪里不对劲。

今天的Buzzword 就和这种“不易察觉”但确是“轻视怠慢的歧视— Microaggression有关。

Microaggression

It is a term that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.

我们知道凡是有Micro的，一般被翻译成“微什么什么”，所以Microaggression就是微歧视。

This is a term used for commonplace, daily, verbal, behavioral, or environmental slights, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized groups.

所谓的”微歧视”就是指我们日常生活中言行方面的对于某一个群体或者某一些人的轻视和偏见。

不管是无心还是有意，这种微歧视，它实际上都在传达着一种贬低的负面态度，而它针对的对象就是stigmatized or marginalized groups，也就是在社会或者文化中通常会被污名化或者边缘化的群体。

Sounds too theoretical?

How about some real-life examples based on my experience?

有人就跟我说，诶，女生在大学当老师好呀！

Or when I lived in other countries, someone said to me, Lulu, you are so liberal-minded, I don't think of you as Chinese.

或者比如说在国外的时候，有人就说，璐璐我觉得你的思维特别开放，我都不把你当成中国人。

On the surface, these sound like compliment, but they actually contain microaggression.

That's because they are still based on some core prejudice and stereotypes.

是因为他们的根基依然是对于某一个群体的刻板印象和偏见。

Word Origin of Microaggression

”

We can trace the term “microaggression” back to 1970.

The term was coined by Harvard University psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce to describe insults and dismissals, which he regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflicting on African Americans.

1970年，由哈佛大学的心理学家创造出来的这个词，最初是用来形容其他族裔对于非裔美国人，也就是美国黑人的歧视。

By the early 21st century, use of the term was applied to the casual degradation of any socially marginalized group.

而到了21世纪早期，microaggression就延展到对所有边缘化群体日常的这种轻视和贬低。

除了少数族裔，还可以针对 LGBT性少数人群，people living in poverty贫困人口, and people with disabilities以及残障人士。

Psychologists Derald Wing Sue defines microaggressions as brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership.

心理学家Derald Wing Sue就把这种微歧视定义为在日常的交流里，对于某一个特定群体的人，发出的这种贬损贬低的信息。

I know a lot of people would ask, all these microaggressions that you have been describing, targeting a specific marginalized group.

It just sounds like racism, sexism, and homophobia.

Differences of Microaggression VS other discriminations

”

可能有人就会说，刚才提到的这些微歧视的定义，和我们平时说的种族歧视，性别歧视，还有恐同，到底有什么不同呢？

There is a difference, otherwise, they won't be called microaggressions.

Although microaggressions and these common discrimination, they are based on some of the same core ideas.

But microaggressions are a little different from overtly racist, sexist, or homophobic acts or comments because they typically don't have any negative intent or hostility behind them.

这是因为比起那些明显的、公然的性别歧视，种族歧视等等, Microaggressions它通常的出发点并不是完全恶意和负面的;

And people who engage in microaggressions are ordinary people who generally see themselves as good moral, decent individuals, and microaggressions occur because they are outside the level of conscious awareness of the perpetrator.

而且这些发起微歧视的人，他们通常都是有正常三观的普通人。

之所以会有microaggression，往往是因为在某一方面，他完全没有意识到已经对他人造成了冒犯。

But that is not to say microaggressions are not harmful.

Although they're seemingly small and sometimes innocent offenses can take a real psychological toll on the mental health of their recipients.

负面心理影响

不过虽然叫做微歧视，看起来似乎没有什么大不了的，但它也依然会给接受者造成不小的负面心理影响。

It can lead to anger, depression, lower work productivity and problem-solving abilities.

Having said all of that, some of you are probably a bit confused.

We say so many things every day, should we always be super careful so that we do not offend other people? What exactly would be considered microaggression?

And this is where it gets really tricky because the idea of microaggression is not without its own criticism.

其实关于微歧视这个概念还是有不少批判的声音的。

A number of scholars and social commentators have criticized the microaggression concept for its lack of scientific basis, overreliance on subjective evidence, and promotion of psychological fragility.

有不少学者和社会评论家就站出来说，这个微歧视的概念其实并没有足够的科学依据佐证，过分依赖于纯主观的感受，而且一定程度地鼓励了心理上的脆弱。

Critiques argue that avoiding behaviors that one interprets as microaggressions restricts one's own freedom and causes emotional self-harm.

还有人说，如果你每天想着都是怎么样不去对别人进行微歧视，其实这也是对自己自由的一种限制，而这种极端的控制和自省也有可能会对你自己造成情感上的自我伤害。

Either way, microaggression is one of those things that are still very controversial.

例句示范

Example 1：

-In this organization, we encourage everyone to call out any microaggression you encounter.