Re:An Existential Threat to Doing Good Science
by kgwgk on Wednesday November 09, 2022 @06:59AM
(#33530296)
I’m sure that many people would consider the example I quoted (“Almost invariably, if the group was mixed, someone, almost always male, would try to "correct" our gender-neutral greeting.”) a “mansplaining” micro-aggression.
Consider your own example “highlighting gender by singling women out in a group of men (i.e., “Hey guys, and one gal”)”
Don’t you think that some people would see there a “invisibilization” micro-aggression if “Hey guys” had been used instead?
Sure. The term is "microaggression" is relatively newly popular. I'm probably also wrong in grouping Hofstadter's "pet peeve" as an example of "microaggression", rather than using a more encompassing term.
But bear in mind that it's being used in this linked-to essay to provoke a knee-jerk response to the term "microaggression", enhanced by using one of the mildest examples - "guy" - as the representative case.
It's so mild it's very hard for me to find any examples of people arguing that “guys” is a microaggression, in order see what those DEI instructors teach. One of the few (after looking at scores of Google and DDG hits) is https://www.clearpnt.com/3-key-trends-in-dei-training/ which says:
> When using scenarios, give examples that avoid words with negative connotations for specific groups, like “blind tests,” “powwow,” “and “guys.”
Thing is, "guys" when used poorly can have negative connotations. "Let the guys select what to do next" is likely read as gendered.
I'm accepting the author is correct in saying DEI instructors are making that argument.
But that acceptance also requires me to accept that the DEI trainers know what they are doing, until presented with evidence to the contrary.
For example, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-022-05203-0 gives these examples of microaggression: "highlighting gender by singling women out in a group of men (i.e., “Hey guys, and one gal”) or treating the women differently because of their gender (i.e., having an open office door policy for the women but not for the men)".
Those would surely be better examples in a DEI training course, yes?
> (Isn’t it funny that using “guys” in a gender-neutral way is a microagression and telling people not to use “guys” in a gender-neutral way is also a micro-agression?)
As an aside, this exchange has taught me that "aggression" has two g:s. And I still make that typo.
I don't think your description of 'is also a micro-aggression' fits the definition of 'microaggression.'
I just read the first 20 or so pages of Sue's "Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation" (2010) book at https://archive.org/details/microaggressions0000sued/page/24... and it characterizes microaggressions as "brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group membership".
Using “guys” in a gender-neutral way doesn't define a group membership.