Minority Stress and Microaggression Experiences among Sexual Minority Women in Sweden

Abstract

In the present article we explore when, where, and how Swedish sexual minority women experience minority stress and microaggression. Drawing on deductive thematic analysis of forty-eight interviews, we show that minority stress and microaggressions were experienced in a wide range of everyday life areas. Exposure was described in the forms of physical violence, threats and verbal abuse, ignorance and prejudice, discrimination, micro, microinsults microinvalidations, excessive focus, exotification, and silence. The exposure was described to cause negative emotions, hypervigilance, a feeling of being different, internalized homo- or biphobia, and mental health problems. Despite the Swedish population being among the most accepting towards sexual minorities, theories of minority stress and microaggressions are still useful for highlighting the lived experiences of sexual minority women. Focusing on lived experiences of minority stress and microaggressions provides us with a visualization of the texture of the experiences that helps us understand what various aspects of the theories mean in everyday life.