“I never thought somebody with your background could be so articulate”. “It was impressive to see your alacrity in the meeting when the senior team entered”. “You do not look your age”. These are supposedly compliments. These are seemingly innocent remarks. Are they? Compliments are supposed to encourage and make people feel better.

Do these comments make people feel better or worse? The answer may differ from person to person but the general response is likely to be tilted towards the unfavourable category. These comments can actually do more harm than in your face discriminatory remarks.

The open ones are caught and dealt with in most companies. These statements are loaded and are difficult to nail. But it is these double meaning phrases that act as slow poison in the context of meaning and intent.

Microagression is a term stated by Harvard psychiatrist Chester M. Pierce, MD, in a 1970 article in The Journal of the National Medical Association. These may be intentional or unintentional verbal, behavioral or environmental actions/phrases. They are displayed more on an interpersonal level and may lead to feelings of discomfort, devaluation and insecurity in their recipients.

Dr Hirchel in his article “The macro affects of microaggressions” published in the IR Quarterly divided microaggressions in four categories. First one is microassault where the target gives a derogatory remark to a female colleague like........

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