Types of microaggressions

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There are various types of microaggressions that people may experience based on race and/or ethnicity, gender, class, language, sexuality, immigration status, phenotypes, accent, surname and culture. It may be based on multiple characteristics and positionalities that define the identities and experiences of people.

Microaggressions can take many forms and can be experienced in a variety of ways. Here are some examples:

Perceived intellectual ability: This refers to assumptions made about a person’s intelligence based on their race or ethnicity.

Visual imagery: This includes racist stereotypes, perceptions and beliefs about people of colour that are conveyed through images.

Layered, subtle and cumulative: Microaggressions are often complex, not immediately obvious and can build up over time.

Nonverbal representations: These are visual depictions of racist ideas and beliefs that are often not spoken.

Various mediums: Microaggressions can appear in textbooks, children’s books, advertisements, photos, film and television, dance and theatre performances, and public signage and statuary.

Reinforcement of institutional racism: Microaggressions can perpetuate the ideologies of white supremacy that justify the subordination of people of colour.

Racial joke-telling: This involves making jokes that are based on racial stereotypes.

Race-themed events: These are events that are based on racial stereotypes.

Maternal microaggressions: These are microaggressions targeted at mothers of colour.

Racist nativist microaggressions: These are underlined by both racist and nativist assumptions about people of colour, such as telling someone to, “Go back to your country” or asking “Where were you born?”