Microaggressions

Brookfield (2014) defined microaggressions as "small acts of exclusion and marginalization committed by the dominant group toward a minority" (p. 93). He further explained that these actions are subtle and most often delivered without malicious intent. They are based on our society's preconceived notions, values, and beliefs and are embedded in our day-to-day behaviours and speech.

Throughout the film, we identified societal microaggressions and observed how these could lead to self-deprecation and an increased probability of self-harm. As outlined in the University of New Hampshire's [UNH] (n.d.) institutional transformation resource Making the Invisible Visible: Gender Microaggressions, one of the detrimental impacts of gender microaggressions includes body image dissatisfaction. An element that is prominent in the main character's experience.

Microaggressions Examples from the Film

While the teacher’s lived experience contains three genders (male, female, and transgender), systemically the school only provides two gender-specific bathroom facilities (male and female) and therefore the teacher is forced to come up with a solution to address an issue for which there are no guidelines. He resorted to democratic voting, which is most likely a way of choosing that has been instilled in him throughout his own upbringing and education. He might have taken an action that was fast and effective, but failed to think about the emotional impact that his method might have on the singled-out student. Another interpretation of the situation could be that the teacher acted with what he perceived to be good intentions: providing the female students with a platform to raise objections. However, St. Denis and Schick (2003) debunked the ideology assumption that one can secure innocence (from committing microaggressions) through good intentions.

The systemic setup failed Lara, and this realization drove home the point for us what it means when a system is failing a certain group in our society. The lack of bathroom facilities in the system directly exposes Lara to differential treatment. Her otherness is not catered for in the society where she finds herself. We should be angry not at how Lara is treated in this situation, but that the situation even exists. Gorski (2012) explained that one cannot fix a resulting issue without understanding the thinking, doing, and being that is the cause of it. This means that we should not focus on alternative ways the teacher could have dealt with the scenario, but rather conclude that he should have challenged the institution to provide facilities that include more people in the society. For us, it highlights the importance of advocating for our students who cannot speak for themselves. We are in positions of power within the education system our students find themselves, and it is our responsibility to push for equitable practices that allow each student to be who they are.

We can assume, from their decision, that the parents hosting the birthday party come from a social background where there were only two genders and traditionally it was commonplace that different gender teenagers sleep in separate rooms. With the introduction of a transgender person into the equation, there are no parental guidelines and the parents lack a fundamental understanding of what it means to be transgender. As a result, they reverted back to their familiar social practices. From the parents’ perspective, one can understand their dilemma. The main character identifies as female but has not yet completed the entire transitioning process—making the risk of sexual exploration an undesirable possibility in the eyes of the parents that needed to be navigated. Her physical biology overruled her gender identity and a decision (directly affecting her) was taken about her, but without her input.

During the course of the evening, the other girls insisted Lara expose her male genitalia to them and justified their demand and curiosity by claiming that Lara had seen all of them naked in the school bathrooms. This objectifying and denial of personal body privacy as defined by Pulice-Farrow et al. (2017), are clear-cut examples of gender microaggressions. This behaviour makes us then question if the girls were in fact truthful when voting to allow Lara into their changing rooms in the first place, as described in Example #1 above. If they had objections but remained silent, they demonstrated how Johnson (radicalbytes, 2014) explained silent contribution to marginalization in saying that we, unconsciously for the most part, “gravitate [in any situation] to what is defined as the path of least resistance" (22:56). This could also further exemplify how “school culture and climate lead to institutional practices that systematically marginalize or pathologize difference” (Guo, 2012 p. 6). The lack of gender education in the school has once again created a scenario where Lara is treated differently because the other students are resorting to their own means to learn more about somebody who is different from them. If the education system provided the information before it was sought out, the girls would have had their questions answered before they even knew they had them.

We see the parents as a representation of the sectors in our society that do not embrace new societal developments, for example the increased understanding of gender identity. This ignorance can be deliberate or unintentional. Nevertheless, in the words of Stevens and Downs (2007), "Levels of diversity can change over time through social and demographic processes" (p. 1198). This phenomenon implies that things will change whether people want to willingly accept it or not. Considering the important role education plays in disseminating information in a society through generations, we believe it is up to schooling to lay the foundation for interest in personal development and growth. However, we also understand that a person's social location heavily influences their access to education and resources and could hinder the progress of assimilating new concepts into society.