Discrimination

In theory

Discrimination is any form of disadvantage put on or unequal treatment of members of a certain type of social group, often a minority or marginalized group. These groups can have various perceptible or non-perceptible characteristics on the bases of which they are treated as less worthy in a particular context. While discrimination often refers to individual actions, the “-isms” (such as sexism, racism, ageism or ableism) refer to the systemic marginalization of certain groups. Because discrimination leads to the violation of a person’s dignity, it is considered to be a form of harassment.

In practice

Recognizing discrimination can be difficult, because unequal treatment is often not explicitly made or argued.  As such, it can be hard to proof if someone is discriminating. Discriminating behavior (especially micro-aggressions) might be written off as jokes, unintentionally harmful or even harmless.