This is an exercise about keeping receipts,
To make the invisible visible.
As independent women,
We know what to do when we experience explicit and deliberate discrimination and aggression,
Because there's no question about the other person's intention.
The tricky thing about microaggressions is that they contain both conscious communication and hidden metacommunication.
A good first step is to analyze the situation and confirm that it is microaggression with the support of evidence.
This gives you options for actions going forward.
If you don't have journaling materials available,
Now is the time to go get them.
Feel free to pause in the middle of this exercise in order to take notes.
The text from this track is also available for reference.
Ready?
Okay.
So,
Pick up your pen and paper.
We want to keep a log of microaggressions with dates,
Detailed conversations,
The metacommunication,
And the emotional consequences they had.
Did they leave your heart racing?
Did they make you feel uncomfortable about speaking up?
Did they make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin because they made being in your own skin feel socially unacceptable?
Start by writing down a couple of recent experiences.
It's okay if you are uncertain about a couple of them.
The idea is that by writing down these experiences,
You can have the opportunity to identify which are indeed microaggressions,
And which might just be people not being nice,
Unrelated to race,
Gender,
Or sexual orientation.
From now on,
Keep a running log of these experiences as they happen,
Complete with dates,
Names,
Locations,
And detailed explanations of what went down.
If you want to,
Run your observations past allies.
This will help you gather feedback,
Understand different viewpoints,
Understand that your feelings are valid,
And have people who can corroborate your story if need be.
But keep in mind that they might not share your experience,
So make sure that you're making up your own mind.
Now that you have a log of evidence to back up that you are indeed facing microaggressions,
It's time to decide what to do about this.
Stay tuned for the next exercises to understand your options.
Keep in mind that it's totally fine to come to the conclusion that this is not a microaggression too.
