Discrimination

Discrimination

In general, discrimination is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences between things. This article focuses on discrimination amongst people—that is, the prejudicial treatment of different groups of people based on certain characteristics. Discrimination on grounds such as race or religion, is generally illegal in most Western democracies, while discriminating between people on the grounds of merit is usually lawful. The latter is more commonly referred to as "differentiating." When unlawful discrimination takes place, it is often described as discrimination against a person or group of people.

Racial discrimination differentiates between individuals on the basis of real and perceived racial differences, and has been official government policy in several countries, such as South Africa in the apartheid era, and the USA.

Age discrimination is discrimination against a person or group on the grounds of age. Although theoretically the word can refer to the discrimination against any age group, age discrimination usually comes in one of three forms: discrimination against youth, which is also called 'adultism'; discrimination against those 40 years old or older [3], and; discrimination against elderly people.

Gender discrimination is discrimination against a person or group on the grounds of sex or gender identity.
Socially, sexual differences have been used to justify societies in which one sex or the other has been restricted to significantly inferior and secondary roles. While there are non-physical differences between men and women, there is little agreement as to what those differences are.