Sorry, I'm stabbing you.

今回はシャーラと一緒に

Awkward intros.

あ、ごめん

In Sharla's apartment if you can't tell (by all the cat plushies).

酷いイントロ

And we're gonna talk about the subject of microaggressions.

シャーラ宅から

ARRRrrr!

猫の縫いぐるみだらけだけど

If you haven't heard of the word "microaggression"

今回は、マイクロ・アグレッションについてです。

then um...

マイクロ・アグレッションとは

congratulations. You live such a nice life.

聞いたことがない人も多いと思いますが、

So a microaggression according to the first result on google is

グーグル先生によると

"The everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights,

自分とは異なる人種や文化を持つ者に人に対し、

snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory,

相手が不快に思ったとしても仕方がないような事を、当人には十分な自覚がないまま言ってしまうこと。

or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership."

長いですが簡単に言うと

That's an extremely long definition.

異文化圏の人などに、自分でも気付かぬうちに無礼・失言をしてしまうことで、

Basically, a microaggression is when someone is trying to fit into a society

失言をした本人には悪意はありません。

and then a person from that society does something that makes it

そうね。

seem like they don't accept that person into that society.

例を挙げられる？

Do you wanna give an example?

日本でよく聞くのは

Sure. One very common microaggression that you'll see people complaining about in Japan

例えばコンビにで弁当を買う時に

is, say you go to a convenience store and you purchase a bento, and they'll give you

「日本人の客には箸で、外国人にはフォークを出す」とかかな？

a fork to eat your bento with whereas they would give chopsticks to a Japanese customer.

日本に何年も住んでる人なんかが、どうして箸をもらえないのだろうと感じたりするみたいで

Right. Some foreigners who live in Japan, especially if they've been living here a long

疑問に思うこと自体はわかります。

time, they're like, "I know how to use chopsticks. Why are you giving me a fork instead of giving

うん、私も。

me chopsticks? I want to be treated the same as everyone else."

でも、不満には思わないよ。

And I can totally understand where they're coming from. I can see where they're coming from.

私も。

For me personally, I don't feel upset by that.

だって、純粋な気遣いが伝わってきますから。

It doesn't bother me either, because you can see that they have good intentions.

（もしかしたら、箸は慣れてないかもしれない。フォークの方が食べやすいかな）

They're just thinking, "Oh, maybe they have difficulty using chopsticks.

心遣いが感じられます。

I'll give them a fork so they can eat easily."

「箸も使えないバカ外人が。ほら、フォークだ」とかじゃないです。

Right. They're just trying to be helpful.

思い遣り気配りを感じ取ってください。

They're not thinking like, "Oh stupid gaijin, you can't use chopsticks! HA, fork."

そうだね。

They're doing it because they're trying to be nice.

他によく聞くのは

Right. Just try to remember what their intentions are.

「お店で店員が英語で話しかけてくる」などですが、

Another example would be if you're at a store and then the worker speaks to you

よくあるよね。

in English instead of speaking to you in Japanese.

純粋にその方が相手にとってもありがたいと思っての事で、

That often happens. Yeah.

きっと日本語が話せない外国人の対応経験もあったりして、

They're not trying to say you're like stupid or can't speak Japanese or whatever.

（外国のお客様だ。英語の方が良いかな）みたいな。

They're trying to be preemptively helpful.

そうね。

They've probably come across lots of customers who couldn't speak Japanese so

一方で、英語圏以外の外国人が戸惑うのも理解できるよね。

their first instinct is "Oh! Non-Japanese person! I should probably try English with them first."

確かに。英語を話さない人たちは困るよね。

Yeah. On the other hand, I totally understand people who do get upset about this.

あと、日本に10年以上住んでいる人とかも。

Especially if they're a foreigner who is not from an English speaking country.

同じように振舞って欲しい人には、毎回英語で話されるとちょっと疲れるかもね。

Yeah, they don't even speak English. Yeah, that would be frustrating.

特に外見は外国人だけど、日本育ちの人とかは大変だろうね。

Or if they've lived in Japan for 10 years,

想像に難くないね。

it gets kind of tiring when people speak to you in English.

ストレス溜まりそう。

You kind of just want them to treat you like everyone else.

私個人の経験で言うと、店員さんに英語で話しかけられた事は殆どありません。

Or especially if you're half-Japanese or you look like a foreigner but you were raised in Japan.

大抵は空港とか

That would be so obnoxious.

有名な観光地とか。

I feel really bad for those people.

浅草とかなら日本語を話さない外国人客が沢山いるし。

I can see how that would be really annoying.

そうね。

For me personally, it's very rare

私はどこに行っても大抵は日本語で話しかけられたし、

that I've had a Japanese worker speak to me in English instead of Japanese.

初めて日本に来て日本語が全然わからない時にも

Usually it only happens at places like airports.

誰も英語で話しかけてくれなかったから、サッパリだったわ。

Like really, really big touristy areas. Right.

他によく聞くのは、外国人が寿司を食べられる事に驚くとか。

Like Asakusa or something, where lots of tourists are going through and lots of non-Japanese

最近、外国でも寿司は結構人気あるけど。

speakers. Yeah.

外国人は魚を生で食べるのが苦手だと思っての事だと思うけどね。

Almost everywhere I go they always speak to me in Japanese.

「君、生で食べられるの？」みたいな。

Especially like even when I first got here and I couldn't speak Japanese at all they would always speak

でも、喜び交じりだよね。

to me in Japanese.

うん、みんな嬉しがりますよね。

And I'd be like, "I heard they'd speak to me in English!! D:> I don't understand."

友達に生魚が苦手な人もいるし

So another one would be things like Japanese people getting surprised if

私の両親も苦手だと思う。

you can eat sushi, even though that's really common abroad now.

単に会話する時に話題として言うだけで、

Yeah, they just kind of assume that foreigners don't like eating raw fish.

他にも「こんにちは」の一言を発しただけで

Right. So you'll probably get that a lot. "Oh, you can eat raw fish?!"

「日本語お上手ですね！」も同じだよね。

They're really surprised. But they're probably happy.

他に何て言ったらいいか分かんない事もあるだろうし。

No, they are. They're really happy about it.

社交的に振舞ってるだけだと思うし。

And I mean I do have friends who don't like raw fish.

あと、私は過小評価される事も全く気になりません。

Yeah, there are lots of people. I'm pretty sure my parents aren't big fans.

後で相手の驚く顔を見るのが楽しいからです。

Yeah. Right. I think a lot of that, too, is just trying to make conversation with someone

相手が出来ないと思っている事をサラッとこなして、

they don't know about. True.

フフン (*￣ー￣*)

So like when they say, "Your Japanese is so good!!" right after you've said "Konnichiwa" or something.

出来ると過大評価されてて、実際に出来なかった時よりずっと良いよね。

It's probably just like awkward small talk.

私も特に気にならないよ。

They don't know what else to say. I just figure they're trying to be nice to me.

フォークしか使えないと思わせて、

And honestly for me, I'm never upset when someone underestimates me

さり気なく箸に持ち替えて、さらに左手でも器用に使って魅せるの。

because I get a lot of joy out of surprising people.

楽しいよね、きっと。

Like if they underestimate me and then I show them up, I'm like

今回挙げたような事に敏感な人は、意識しておいた方が良いと思います。

"HA HAAAA!"

気疲れするという気持ちは分かるので、何とも言えませんが

That feels better than them expecting you to speak fluent Japanese when you can't. Right.

でも、大抵は悪意などありませんし、思い遣りからくるものもあります。

So I don't see why that's seen as a bad thing.

以上、マイクロ・アグレッションでした。

I would rather go in and pretend I have to use a fork,

何かあれば、下記コメント欄までどうぞ。

and then suddenly whip out chopsticks in my right hand,

今回はありがとう。

AND IN MY LEFT HAND.

未だシャーラを登録していない方は、是非どうぞ。

They'll be like "WHAAAAAA?!?!??!?!"

2nd チャンネルのSharla's Lifeもどうぞ。

That would be fun for me.

では、また。

If you're a person that's really affected by these things,

you're probably going to run across lots of them. Yeah.

So just be prepared for it. Yeah.

And I'm not saying you can't feel upset about it because

I totally understand why it would bother you. I think there's legitimacy to feeling the

way you do. But try to understand where they're coming from, too.

They're not trying to be mean.

They're really just trying to be helpful or they want to be conversational but they

don't know what else to say to you. They're just trying to be nice.

So that was all about microaggressions!

If you guys have anything to say about it, please write your comments down below!

We'd love to see what your thoughts are.

Thank you for discussing this with me, Sharla!

Yeah, you're welcome!

And if you're not subscribed to Sharla, check out Sharla in Japan!

And her second channel Sharla's Life!

I'll see you guys later! Bye!