Discrimination

To discriminate is to make a distinction. There are several meanings of the word, including statistical discrimination, or the actions of a circuit called a `discriminator`. This article addresses the most common colloquial sense of the word, invidious discrimination. That is, irrational social, racial, religious, sexual, disability, ethnic and age-related discrimination of people.

Definition

Invidious discrimination classifies people into different groups in which

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group members receive distinct and typically unequal treatments and rights without rational justification.

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Expectations and obligations of group members are also biased by invidious discrimination.

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If the justification is rational, then the discrimination is not invidious.

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Commonplace forms of invidious discrimination include distinctions by gender, biological sex, sexual orientation, race, skin color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, ability, age, socio-economic class, marital status, and body size.

Related Topics:
Gender - Biological sex - Sexual orientation - Race - Skin color - Religion - Nationality - Ethnicity - Ability - Age - Socio-economic class - Marital status - Body size

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Discrimination based on subcultural preference (Punk, hippy, Mods, Rockers) is also common.

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Robert W. Fuller coined the term "rankism" in 2003 in his book "Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank."

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Rankism describes negative discrimination predicated on rank difference between individuals (For example, a customer humiliating a waitress or a boss picking on an employee).

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People with facial disfigurement or other atypical physical differences are often unfairly discriminated against by others.

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In the USA, there were once laws and statutes preventing these people from being in public.

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