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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   34303 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 15, 2025

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I think that depends on how you define "intentionally". Certainly some activists emphasize the "unconscious" angle, but as your second quote block shows, the idea is still that the microaggression is stemming from genuinely-if-perhaps-subconsciously-held prejudices. I don't think a genuinely coincidentally aggravating turn of phrase would properly count as a microaggression even by the more expansive definition Wikipedia puts forward, although, of course, this is a hard thing to prove, perhaps by design.

I think that depends on how you define "intentionally".

I mean, please try? Sketch out some plausible definitions that reconcile your presented distinction and what is in the Wiki article.

the idea is still that the microaggression is stemming from genuinely-if-perhaps-subconsciously-held prejudices

Possibly so. That's a far cry from your distinction that:

A microaggression properly understood is a deliberately microaggravating comment, knowingly pitched by the offending party as a subtle enough thing that it has inherent plausible deniability and affords them the ability to deny any ill intent while still getting the satisfaction of making the receiving party momentarily uncomfortable. [emphasis in original]

You call out both deliberate and knowing as primary parts of your definition. You possibly even require specific intent behind the statement (plausible deniability and satisfaction from the receiving party's discomfort).

I don't think a genuinely coincidentally aggravating turn of phrase would properly count as a microaggression even by the more expansive definition Wikipedia puts forward, although, of course, this is a hard thing to prove, perhaps by design.

I think this is pretty obviously not true in the case of the Wiki definition. I think you either need to just say that Wikipedia (and most purveyors of the term) are just wrong on this... that many of the things that they think are in the category of "microaggression" should be properly understood to be in the category of "microaggravator" (namely, the ones that lack at least some of your qualifiers of deliberate, knowing, intent of plausible deniability, and/or satisfaction from the receiving party's discomfort)... or you need to do some actual work to reconcile things.

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