Microaggressions Nomenclature

According to MedicalNewsToday.com, the term was coined around 1970 by psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, MD. He used it to describe subtle insults and put-downs regularly experienced by black people in his environment. The term has been expanded to include this type of behavior directed toward any marginalized group. What is a marginalize group? Individuals or populations living at the margins of mainstream society who are discriminated against and excluded by structures of power and the people within them. A person may experience microaggressions due to race, gender, culture, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, food preferences, clothing or hair styles, and type of illness, et cetera. Microaggressions may be committed unknowingly as the perpetrators may be complexly oblivious and unaware that their behavior is hurtful.