General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What the heck is a microaggression, anyway? [View all]TM99
(8,352 posts)is what we used to call in social psychology - passive aggressiveness.
It occurs all the time. We do it as human beings in countless ways, often unconsciously. Yes, sometimes it will involve gender, race, or sexual orientation or preference but it also involves judgements of beauty, intelligence, politics, etc.
Ironically enough even those here in this thread who are defending the theory can be rightly accused of it when they use such terms as mansplaining, MRA, etc. They are being passive aggressive, using insulting language, and acting morally and intellectually superior.
It is a pseudo academic theory, which means that it can't be empirically studied but it can be used as a cudgel in political and intellectual debates.
Sadly, whole branches of the social sciences have become this way.