Dictionary

microinvalidate en · VERB

Etymology

From micro- + invalidate.

Meanings

1. To engage in microinvalidation, to make a relatively small statement or action (microaggression) that negates another person's experience, thoughts or feelings.
   • ... such a way that it invalidated the need to diversify the doctoral programs and microinvalidated my comment. She insisted that the admission policies of the doctoral programs were not racist; rather, the lack of student diversity was a reflection of where students came from. In other words, because the area in which ACME is located is not that diverse, the university is granted permission to remain mostly white. 2014, Kenneth J. Fasching-Varner, Katrice A. Albert, Roland W. Mitchell, Chaunda Allen, Racial Battle Fatigue in Higher Education: Exposing the Myth of Post-Racial America, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 121:
   • Due to the tie between color and class, choosing only lighter women microinvalidates both women of a darker complexion and women who may not be of the middle or upper classes. Although this pageant does not hold a swimsuit competition and often asks women how they would confront issues significant to Blacks, the emphasis on how women look to men remains vital. 2014, M. Gasman, F. Commodore, Opportunities and Challenges at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Springer, →ISBN, page 288:
   • Depending on the consciousness and intent of his actions, these may be considered microassaults or microinsults. Similarly hostile sexism may also take microassaultive, microinsulting, or microinvalidating forms. For example, a man calling a woman in power a "bitch" or "aggressive" may be considered a microassault. A man who unconsciously ignores a woman's ideas (because he feels threatened by her power or intelligence) may be an example of a microinsult, and a man who tells a woman (particularly an outspoken or assertive woman) to stop playing the "gender card" would be an example of a microinvalidation. 2010, Michele Antoinette Paludi, Feminism and Women's Rights Worldwide, →ISBN, page 163:
   • For example, changing seats to be further away from a^([sic]) LGBT person would be microinsulting, while creating an environment where someone feels pushed to "stay in the closet" can be considered microinvalidating. Second, the heterosexist and homonegative behaviors may appear to be harmless but may have a cumulative impact on the LGBT recipient of these microaggressions. 2010, Kevin L[eo] Nadal, David P. Rivera, Melissa J. H. Corpus, “Sexual Orientation and Transgender Microaggressions: Implications for Mental Health and Counseling”, in Derald Wing Sue, editor, Microaggressions and Marginality: Manifestation, Dynamics, and Impact, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, →ISBN, part III (Other Socially Devalued Group Microaggressions: International/Cultural, Sexual Orientation and Transgender, Disability, Class, and Religious), page 223:

Forms