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Discrimination

Discrimination toward or against a person or group is the prejudicial treatment of them based on certain characteristics. It can be positive behavior directed towards a certain group, or negative behavior directed against a certain group. The latter is the most common meaning, i.e. negative discrimination. Discrimination on grounds such as race or religion is generally illegal in most Western societies, while discriminating between people on the grounds of merit is usually lawful. The latter is more commonly referred to as "differentiating." When prejudicial discrimination takes place, it is usually described as discrimination toward or against a person or group of people, rather than discrimination between people or groups, which is simply the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences. This article focuses on the prejudicial sense of discrimination.
Contents
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* 1 Direct vs. subtle
* 2 Race discrimination
* 3 Age discrimination
* 4 Gender discrimination
o 4.1 Legislation
* 5 Caste discrimination
* 6 Employment discrimination
* 7 Language discrimination
* 8 Reverse discrimination and affirmative action
* 9 Disability discrimination
* 10 Theories
o 10.1 Discrimination
o 10.2 Conservative and Anarcho-Capitalist
* 11 References
* 12 See also
* 13 External links

[edit] Direct vs. subtle

Unlawful discrimination can be characterized as direct or subtle. Direct discrimination involves treating someone less favorably because of their possession of an attribute (e.g., sex, age, race, religion, family status, national origin, military status, sexual orientation, disability, body size/shape), compared with someone without that attribute in the same circumstances. An example of direct discrimination would be not offering a job to a woman because she is likely to take maternity leave whereas a man is not. Indirect or subtle discrimination involves...