Discrimination In Sex, Gender

1059 Words5 Pages
Discrimination in sex, gender Moral philosophers have defined discrimination as disadvantageous treatment or consideration. This is a comparative definition. An individual need not be actually harmed in order to be discriminated against. He or she just needs to be treated worse than others for some arbitrary reason. If someone decides to donate to help orphan children, but decides to donate less, say, to black children out of a racist attitude, he or she will be acting in a discriminatory way even if he or she actually benefits the people he discriminates against by donating some money to them. Based on realistic conflict theory and social identity theory, Rubin and Hewstone have higlighted a distinction between three types of discrimination: 1. Realistic competition is driven by self-interest and is aimed at obtaining material resources for the in-group 2. Social competition is driven by the need for self-esteem and is aimed at achieving a positive social status for the in-group relative to comparable out-groups 3. Consensual discrimination is driven by the need for accuracy and reflects stable and legitimate intergroup status hierarchies Though gender discrimination and sexism refers to beliefs and attitudes in relation to the gender of a person, such beliefs and attitudes are of a social nature and do not, normally, carry any legal consequences. Sex discrimination, on the other hand, may have legal consequences. Though what constitutes sex discrimination varies between countries, the essence is that it is an adverse action taken by one person against another person that would not have occurred had the person been of another sex. Discrimination of that nature is considered a form of prejudice and in certain enumerated circumstances is illegal in many countries. Sexual discrimination can arise in different contexts. For instance an employee may be
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