How do Microaggressions impact Asian American Trauma?
Learn about microaggressive stress faced by Asian Americans.
Microaggressive stress refers to the prolonged exposure to subtle forms of interpersonal and systemic discrimination, which can result in trauma symptoms such as heightened sensitivity to threats, anxiety, and hyperarousal. A related blog post explores racial trauma and the four levels of racism.
Microaggressions Experienced by Asian Americans
What are common microaggressions encountered by Asian Americans? It can be insightful to examine these microaggressions through the lens of gender, as differing gender stereotypes can influence whether individuals are perceived as fitting or not fitting the typical image of their group.
For instance, research literature says that Asian American cisgender women, cisgender men, and nonbinary or transgender individuals face several major types of microaggressions in their daily lives.
Research indicates that gendered racial microaggressions encountered by Asian American women include:
Assumed submissiveness
Stereotypes of universal appearance
Asian fetishism
Media invalidation
Sexual objectification (such as unwanted attention to one’s body) and sexism (for example, workplace discrimination based on being a woman) have been directly linked to PTSD symptoms among Asian women.
On the other hand, Asian American men confront microaggressions related to:
Psychological emasculation
Being seen as an undesirable partner
A perceived lack of leadership
Transgender and nonbinary Asian Americans experience distinctive gender identity microaggressions, including:
Exoticization
Discomfort or disapproval regarding the transgender experience
Assumptions of sexual pathology or abnormality
Denial of individual experiences of transphobia
Denial of bodily privacy
Trauma Therapy
How does this impact trauma therapy? It underscores the importance of feeling validated regarding the reality of racism and microaggressions as ongoing and potentially traumatic stressors in one's life during therapy. If this validation is lacking, therapists may inadvertently attribute trauma symptoms to personal failings rather than acknowledging the external factors at play, such as racism.
Additionally, collaborating with your therapist to identify and explicitly address the often subtle ways in which racism manifests in our lives can be beneficial for mental health. There are various resources available that discuss trauma symptoms, including somatic effects, dissociation, and trauma responses.
What can I do now?
If you are struggling to find a trauma therapist who can hold your Asian American experiences with you, there are several resources for you. You are welcome to schedule a consultation with me to discuss your options for individual therapy. You can also educate yourself about racial trauma and the road maps for a trauma-informed therapy. Know you are not alone and seek a supportive community that will foster your Asian American ethnic identity.
This post was inspired by my original blog post for Woven Together Trauma Therapy.
