Diversity at work

[GingerBrod]

My employer is buying into the "bring your whole self to work" school of thought and has recently announced a diversity charter. People who are "diverse" can join the group and wear special lanyards (which I find insidious in itself) to help everyone know that they're part of the group. It seems to cover all the protected characteristics, so you can join in if you're female, gay, mixed race, trans, disabled etc etc.

They're taking steps to make our work environment more inclusive. This mostly includes presentations at staff meetings about specific groups and challenges they face, all the usual stuff. They're going to have a "zero tolerance policy" towards micro-aggressions. This is baffling as this is honestly the nicest place I've worked. Everyone is polite and friendly, and I've only ever seen ONE person yelling at his employee. I know there could be stuff happening behind closed doors, but it just seems to unlikely, all people who move on talk about how they will miss the friendly and supportive culture we have! The pay is shit here but the company is good.

The other thing that came up, inevitably, is pronouns in signatures to normalise the discussion around etc etc. The comms they sent out were very loose, so we haven't been ordered to do this, but there's a general pressure to conform.

I really don't want to. I don't want to bring my whole damn self to work, I don't want to tell people about private things like my mental health, ethnicity, sexuality, disability. I certainly don't want to be singled out by a fucking lanyard. I've spent my entire life making a point of not being defined by things beyond my control, including my gender, and yet here we are, being encouraged to expose SO MUCH to 1000s of people!

My plan is to be an ostrich and just not join in, but I am worried that the day may come when I'm challenged directly and I just don't want to get into a fight about it. I want to do my job, get my pay, and have a private life.

Has anyone actually got away with doing this, or have they come for you eventually?

“It doesn’t matter whether it was intentional or not. In fact these often are not intentional slights. It is about unconscious bias. Eg, like telling a Chinese colleague “you speak perfect English”. Well, perhaps he is as English as you.”

@Greenlittle - I know exactly what they are and I stand by what I said.

A number of scholars and social commentators have criticised the microaggression concept for its lack of scientific basis, over-reliance on subjective evidence, and promotion of psychological fragility. Also because the term "microaggression" uses language connoting violence to describe verbal conduct, it can be abused to exaggerate harm, resulting in retribution.

Dr. D. W. Sue, who popularized the term microaggressions, has expressed doubts on how the concept is being used: "I was concerned that people who use these examples would take them out of context and use them as a punitive rather than an exemplary way."

Sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning have written in the academic journal Comparative Sociology that the microaggression concept "fits into a larger class of conflict tactics in which the aggrieved seek to attract and mobilize the support of third parties" that sometimes involves "building a case for action by documenting, exaggerating, or even falsifying offenses". The concept of microaggressions has been described as a symptom of the breakdown in civil discourse.

One suggested type of microaggression by an Oxford University newsletter was avoiding eye contact or not speaking directly to people. This spurred a controversy when it was pointed out that such assumptions are insensitive to autistic people who may have trouble making eye contact.

The adult way of dealing with this in a professional saying is to point out to the person that they’re incorrect in their assumption or to have a chat and say you found whatever it was problematic. The person then has the opportunity to reflect and change. We all learn from each other and all become better people for open dialogue. Knowing there is a place for anonymous reporting of subjective unintended ‘aggressions’ will lead to paranoia and a culture of fear where nobody feels free to speak. It’s chilling and is more likely to inflict harm to a working environment.

I agree to an extend. Although I think there should be training on this and unconscious bias. It should not be up to the receiver of micro aggressions to explain it every time. I mean, by the 109th time you are asked where are you really from and complemented on your perfect English, it gets quite tiring and othering .

And if you know of the concept of “white fragility “ you will know that the recipient of the micro aggressions often gets abused for pointing it out.

Best to do it through a more neutral training environment

once spoke to my mentor about all of this and he likened these sort of people to the missionaries of yore. After all, they know what's best for us, and it's in our best interests to be quiet and accept their 'help' on their terms, regardless of whether we want it or not. And make sure we show the correct amount of gratitude to our saviours

This is absolutely spot on.