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Asexual Microaggressions Scale Ripped by Alt-Right Media!


Pramana

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Columbia University counseling psychology grad student Aasha Foster recently published a PhD thesis which develops an Asexual Microaggressions Scale to measure the frequency of so-called "microaggressions" against asexual people. She identifies twenty-four different "microaggressions" of social invisibility and erasure that asexual people encounter, ordered by frequency. While this research was advertised across a number of major online English language asexuality platforms, predictably the majority of respondents originated from Tumblr, while the smallest percentage group originated from AVEN.

So far, alt-right media have shown the greatest interest in the publication, using it as another example to rip on the ridiculousness of identity politics at universities.

For the thesis:
https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:vhhmgqnkcq

For the alt-right reporting:
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/10/06/columbia-phd-student-writes-thesis-on-asexual-microaggressions/
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=9920
http://www.meninist.net/2017/10/11/wont-believe-columbia-university-considers-microaggression-now/
https://www.dangerous.com/32871/scholar-people-who-dont-date-are-victims-of-asexual-microaggressions/

Aasha Foster also cowrote a journal article with Kristin Scherrer regarding the experiences of asexual people in clinical settings (focusing on a group recruited through AVEN):
Aasha B. Foster, and Kristin S. Scherrer. “Asexual-Identified Clients in Clinical Settings: Implications for Culturally Competent Practice.” Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 1, no. 4 (2014): 422-430.

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Yeah people take the piss out of research all the time. That isn’t particularly notable. Using those websites as an example of anything other than an alt-right Group is laughable and I would hesitate to give them the satisfaction of being called a media source - that’s a gross exaggeration. When they refute it with a literature review or research project, then their reply might become interesting. I mean come on, would it have killed them to cite the paper correctly?

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A lot of things she lists as 'microagressions against asexual people' are perfectly valid responses for the vast majority of the population though. One example: It's very normal for a teen girl to not be interested in sex, to be told she needs to wait for the right person, then actually get interested in sex when she meets the right person. I understand why people would want to make a mockery of this kind of nonsense. She should have focused on actual issues asexuals face in society, not something silly like this that is obviously only going to attract mockery.

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NickyTannock

Personally, I don't believe in microaggressions, because I feel the intention must be aggressive, and in that case, I'd just call it subtle bullying.
I've experienced the subtle bullying, but where I take issue with that, I've learned not to take offence to unintentionally hurtful actions or comments.
As for the ridicule from the right, I expect that, so I can't feel angry about it.
I mean, few people know that we exist, and some who do will naturally assume that we aren't real, because we're so far outside of what they consider possible.

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I can't fairly comment on this because I take big issue with the legitimacy of the concepts of microaggression and implicit bias to begin with.

 

It's nice to see asexuality continuing to receive academic support, but I can also completely understand the response of the right-wing media.

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The Alt-right (or I should say some of the alt-right, generalizing is against ToS of course) pulls this sort of thing often, can't say I'm surprised.

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I'm just going to make a mental note to read everything, this sounds interesting :P

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That is the funniest title of an AVEN thread I've ever seen.  

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The issue with this type of research is that it feeds straight into the Tumblr-left versus alt-right Internet dynamic. The alt-right media are probably the greatest beneficiaries, because they can invoke it for the purpose of solidifying their construct of the liberal academic elite.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Asterion Orestes
On 3/5/2018 at 5:24 PM, Pramana said:

For the alt-right reporting:

Labeling it all "alt-right" seems kinda alt-careless.

 

Where's the alt-left anyway?

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7 hours ago, Asterion Orestes said:

Labeling it all "alt-right" seems kinda alt-careless.

 

Where's the alt-left anyway?

I think it's reasonable to call those news sites alt-right, at least to the extent that they all share a populist conservative bias. I see the term "alt-left" used to refer to what used to be called the "old left", today representing that branch of the left that rejects identity politics.

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I don't think these alt-right people did a very good job of 'ripping on' anything - all the articles do is demonstrate lazy writing and/or a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter at hand. 

 

As for the actual thesis, it makes sense considering that the author is studying Counselling Psychology, and microaggressions (ie bullying) are something that is likely to impact a person's mental health, therefore causing them to need counselling. 

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