Practicing Awareness of Microaggresssions

Last year my washing machines knob stopped gripping and turning around so that I could select my wash cycle.  So, I called the appliance store and told them about the problem I was having with the knob.  The man at the appliance store told me what I needed to bring in so I could get a replacement part.  As a very self-sufficient, independent woman, I took the knob and parts off and went to the store for replacements.  When I walked in the door with the parts, the man behind the counter asked surprisingly how I got the knob off so quickly and where my husband didn't come in with me.

I clearly took this as a microinsult towards women. The implied message was that women are not capable of doing any manual labor especially if they are married.  In this case, I was confused by his statement and taken off guard because I'm not stupid and very capable of doing such a simple task. Then, I felt very angry and slighted by the comment.  It's a common microaggression that I deal with living in a small, rural area where manual labor is stereotypically men's work and housework is women's work.

I learned this week that discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes are the underlying motivations for microaggressions. Also, I learned that microaggressions and their impact on the individual adds up and could lead to bigger issues over time.  I also feel that people are very unaware of microaggressions and their unintentional impact.  To be perfectly honest, I never heard of microaggressions before but now that I know what they are it is easy to see how easily they can occur and looked over without a second thought.

Additional Perspectives of Culture and Diversity

Perspective from a friend working with Peace Corp in Mali

Culture is basically any learned behaviors passed between people. In Mali it is very obvious to see the learned behaviors in small villages and the family setting. Women get married at a young age, have children, cook, clean and raise their family because that is what women here do. When told that women work outside of the home, or that some women have no desire to get married and have children, they do not understand why.

Mali is a very diverse country, more than half of the country is in the Sahara Desert, while the most Southern region is lush and green with much farmland. The people of Mali are quite diverse as well. While the national language is French, the majority of Mali is made up of Bamana people making the most common language Bambara (which is what I've learned). There are many different ethnic groups in Mali, most speak either Bamabara and/or French in addition to their own group's language. I recently visited Segou and visited a fishing village the Niger made up three minority groups who communicate in Bambara with each other but still speak their own language to family. Also in Segou there are some Teurag people who are from Timbucktu in the desert and they speak Tomacheck and not Bamabara they spoke English to us, and they also know French. The Falani people are mostly found in the north but the men are nomadic, because through hot season they leave the villages in the north and travel with their cows to the southern, more lush land, and then in Rainy season head back up North.Diversity affects the learning styles of the children in that they learn only French in school from 3rd grade on but that is a language rarely spoken in the home.

I hope this is somewhat helpful! I also found this link giving an interesting definition of diversity.

http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html

Perspective from a secondary school English teacher

Culture is a set of shared customs, traditions, history or even language that a group identifies as "theirs". I guess diversity would be when several of those groups come together.

Perspectives on Culture and Diversity.

Here are the definitions of culture and diversity that I received. I did not change any of their wording (so you'll have to look past their grammatical errors) from Facebook and Texts messages.

Perspective #1

"for me both culture and diversity were something that i didn't discover until i was older. there were many things that i wasn't exposed to or aware of growing up. different ideas, ways of living, and ethnicity's were introduced to me first when went to college. for example, i had never met or befriended a jewish person before then. so much was new to me at that time. later on, i got travel around the country and parts of the world and see even more. these day's i would define culture as the people you surround yourself with. who influences and inspires you. who you spent your time with. the life choices you make also define culture and is subject to change. diversity is realizing that everyone is different. there so many labels attached to diversity. almost to the point of overkill. i think the bottom line is that everyone is unique. i think we as humans should realize this. it doesn't mean we agree with everything. just image how many great things wouldn't have happened if we weren't a diverse culture."

Perspective #2

"I think culture is when a group of people adopt the same beliefs or behaviors. Diversity is when a group of people in the same area have a variety of different beliefs or behaviors. "

Perspective #3

 "Well, our social studies textbook defines culture as the way a group of people live. I guess diversity would be a bunch of cultures together."

Reflection
Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?

I believe these perspectives are representative of deep culture.  For example, Perspective #1 refers to culture as the relationships around us and the choices we make which are all subject to change over time. Perspective #2 defines culture as a set of beliefs or behaviors.  Perspective #3 defines culture as the way a group of people live.  I find it interesting that most of the definitions of culture and diversity focus on relationships, beliefs, and behaviors.

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?

As most of the perspectives focused on deep culture, I was surprised that Perspective #2 and #3 never mentioned surface culture such as foods, holidays, traditions, etc... Perspective #1 talked about surface culture in the beginning as he explained his first encounters with diversity but later focused more on deep culture to define culture and diversity.
In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

Quite honestly I was surprised by the definitions I received. I chose three individuals that have had been raised in different cultures such as different family relationships, religion, values, and way of life.  Two of the three perspectives came from individuals that I perceived as hard to connect with or to establish a relationship with because of our differences.  Their definitions of culture and diversity are rather similar to my own.  I think this is why people need to talk about culture and diversity so that we realize that we do have some things in common.

My Family Culture

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

What would I take?

1. Photo album of my family
2. Family-made quilts
3. Holy Bible

How do these items represent my family culture?

1. The photo album would contain pictures of family gatherings and celebrations.  My family has had a huge influence on who I am and the pictures could help explain some of them.
2. I would take at least one of our family quilts that I have been passed through generations or one that I've created with my grandmother and mother.  They represent a common thread that connects me with my family.  It is a reminder of how hard we worked together to provide for each other.
3. The Holy Bible represents my family's religion.  If we had to move to a different country, it would be useful in explaining what we believe and why.

How would you feel if you could only keep one of three items upon arrival?

• I would be devasted!  I really don't which item that I would choose but I think I would choose the photo album because it captures more of my family and our culture.  It would be really difficult to leave the other things behind too.

My Insights

• Honestly, I hate this question.  As a teen, I remember people forcing us to answer this question especially within the church youth group.  I find it very difficult to narrow down your most valued possessions into three.  It's like the question - what would you grab at the last second during a fire? What's the most important to you?  I believe for that question I would answer it the same way also.  There are somethings that irreplaceable like photos and family heirlooms (quilts).  Of course, we have memories but they can fade with age (which is really sad!). Some people may have said they would kept the Bible above anything else because their religion has priority but in my opinion the Bible won't save me and I'm fully capable of praying without it so I would probably let it behind.  

We were talking about culture and decided to learn how to say "Hello" in some other languages.