A New York City–based writer and editor with more than three decades of experience in various environments, Lauren Hauptman likes theater, football, baseball, dogs, baked goods and making art.
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The Bite of Microaggressions
Degradations, mosquito bites and stress responses.
Health & Well-Being
A clinical neuropsychologist and assistant professor in the College of Health Professions, Rachael Ellison, PhD, runs RFU’s Socially Conscious Lab. Her research explores the intersection among systemic inequities, social determinants of health and cognitive functioning.
“Microaggressions are like mosquito bites. One little bite might be annoying, though you might not feel it. But if you get a ton of mosquito bites, that’s a different story.”
What are microaggressions?
They’re brief, everyday degradations, slights and invalidations related typically to an aspect of one’s identity. They can be verbal or nonverbal, behavioral or environmental indignities that communicate (intentionally or unintentionally) derogatory attitudes toward another person. They may be related to one’s ability status, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or other identities.
What are some examples of common — or not-so-common — microaggressions?
For women in the workplace, condescending behavior that implies women “need caretaking,” such as by calling them “sweetheart” or “hun” in professional settings. For individuals who may be from non-White race/ethnicities, comments such as, “You speak English so well,” implying their English proficiency is unexpected, or asking, “Where are you really from?” can also be microaggressions.
What makes them so dangerous?
Microaggressions are like mosquito bites. In general, one little bite might be annoying, though you might not feel it, it might not welt up. But if you get a ton of mosquito bites, that’s a different story. Buildup of these slights — if you were to have hundreds or thousands of mosquito bites, that’s going to go from annoying to uncomfortable to painful.
How do microaggressions trigger stress responses?
For most people’s biological stress-related response systems, one mosquito bite isn’t going to do too much. However, if we get multiple bites, we may start to have those more inflammatory responses in our body. It’s the same way when we have accumulated stress experiences — whether it’s due to microaggressions, race-related stressors or other stressors. It can start to affect these biological stress responses in our bodies, both in the short term and the long term.
Published November 21, 2025
