The microaggression that I witnessed this weed, will actually,, the microagressions that I witnessed this week both took place at a local high school activity. I was there at a ball game with my best friend. Her daughter is a star on the team. As we were watching the game, I noticed that I kept hearing, "ugh thats gay!" It kept coming up in different pockets of the auditorium. I would hear it over and over, "That's gay".
It was not until recently that I was told how this sentiment shouted by students was a dig, or an example of microaggressions. The kids were insulting each other, though playfully, by calling each other gay, as it that were the ultimate insult. Homosexuality has received a slanderous stigma and instead of the word gay being an adjective, something describe a person, or their sexual orientation at least, the word gay gets thrown around as if it is an insult.
Perhaps the kids never stopped to realize how hurtful that must be those around listening that my actually be gay. In their laughter, another person may find pain.
The other microaggression was towards darker skinned minorities. The kids were chanting, "team-light skinned". This microaggression is a reflection of the attitudes placed on Blacks and some Hispanics through the years. The other kids who were standing in rejection didn't seem to be bothered to badly, yet, this could be a case where students seem fine but cutting remarks could damage their self esteem in a large way. My best friend simply thought kids were just being kids until we thought about the many kids are lying in graves because they failed to see the , "joke".
Many of these jokes, are a way that adults bully each other, these microaggressions. They turn into teenage taunts after the teen learns the behavior from adults. Television and online media are is full of these such microaggressions. Not to mention we are a society full of gossip blogs, magazines, and shows. Our youth are picking up this habit with little to no effort.
