A thread on microinvalidation using linguistic acrobatics.

1. I gave a colleague, whom I trusted, one of my papers to read.

Here's her reaction.

#academictwitter #highered #academicchatter #highereducation #microaggressions

2. "Oh wow. This was super easy to read. You have a cute voice. Your voice is really cute."

#qualitative #qualitativeresearch #writingcommmunity #phdchat #phdadvice

3. It was a published autoethnographic paper, in a respected journal, discussing the third space, the liminality in which transnationals function, with a fleeting sense of home that's no longer connected to a physical dwelling.
#academiclife #WednesdayThoughts

4. I tried to maintain curiosity and ask for clarification of the statement. However, the clarification remained the same. That my voice was "cute," with an exotic flair, and I was "simple" in my language.
#SignsOfGaslighting

5. Sometimes I am so stunned by people's behavior that I don't have the right words in the exact moments when I need them. I have them now.

To explain complicated ideas in an accessible way is actually a difficult skill to master. There is nothing "simple" about it.

#critqual

6. It is a colonizing, gatekeeping mentality to think we need to obscure our language, and posture in elitist ways, to say things. Clarity of thought, with depth, creativity, and criticality, is a difficult skill to acquire and demonstrate in writing. #LevelUp

7. I am not "cute" when I speak in a language that is engaging while explaining certain aspects of people's experiences so that there are resonant truths for those who read. It has taken me years of disciplined practice, that I still maintain, to sharpen my craft in writing.

8. Cultivating a space for resonant truths is a skill that demonstrates perspective-taking and empathy so that people can experience cognitive, affective, & even spiritual shifts in their beings. That is no small thing, and certainly exceeds the boundary of "cute" & simple.