Discrimination has become a phenomenon challenge today with the most common of its form being based on gender, age, and race. This moral vice is rampant in the American society despite the government’s achievements in creating a free nation. Various factors such as stereotypes are responsible for discrimination in the USA. Gender discrimination is unfair treatment of another person based on his or her sex. In the USA and other nations, women are victims are prone to gender discrimination more than men are.
Men are accused of suppressing the rights and privileges of females in an attempt to dominate the latter. The US society upholds various cultures and traditions; some which elaborate on the roles and responsibilities of men and women. In most cultures, for example, men have the responsibility to provide financial assistance to their family. The women are expected to raise children and take care of their homes. Majority of men are found in offices as compared to the fewer number of women.
Gender discrimination against women is vast, and is not limited to their roles and responsibilities. Most women face discrimination in their entire life because society believes that they should be submissive and should not fight against men. This belief is responsible for physical abuse on women (Watson, Robinson, Dispenza & Nazari, 2012). Physical abuse includes wife battering and rape in times of war and instability. Women experience physical and emotional stress when they are left to care for their children alone.
The girl child also faces gender discrimination, for example, family members rape some girls when they are young. Adolescent girls encounter emotional torture such as misunderstanding and violence during dating (Watson, Robinson, Dispenza & Nazari, 2012). They also experience forced sexual encounters such as prostitution, rape, and sexual harassment. Elderly women face gender discrimination when society treats them as widows and old people who cannot fend for themselves. Another group that faces gender discrimination is the girls who work as house servants. They often are often subjected to sex abuse and harassment.
Men also experience gender discrimination, although the vice has been considered a preserve for women only. Courses such as nursing, child education, and psychology are believed to be women jobs. Men who decide to undertake such courses encounter discrimination and stigma in the society. This is referred to as gender stereotyping, and is meant to enforce the duties and roles of individuals in the society.
Racial discrimination occurs when an individual is treated unfairly because of their ethnicity and cultural background. There are different races that live in the USA: the African-Americans, the Whites, Iranian Americans, and South Asian Americans among others (Hammond & Axelrod, 2006). Racial discrimination in the USA occurs mainly in workplaces, schools, government offices, and airports. Studies indicate that people of African-American origin the blacks are more likely to be stopped and arrested by traffic police as compared to whites (Hammond & Axelrod, 2006). Racial discrimination still exists today; although, it is suppressed and is not publicly expressed like in the past.
The black civil rights leaders have also contributed to racial discrimination. They are involved in passing comments that are negative about the whites. These actions create enmity amongst different races hence increased discrimination. The offering of scholarships in America has mainly been made available for blacks, which is considered unfair by citizens from other races. Violation of rights of an individual of the opposite race is rampant. Racial discrimination also occurs because people have not accepted who they are. They have developed hatred and misunderstanding in their own tribes, and therefore, they will not learn to appreciate and love others.
Age discrimination is treating an individual unfairly based on their age. This occurs in workplaces and schools. Employment of young individuals is sometimes discriminatory. Workers are discriminated in terms of promotions, training, and recruiting in accordance to age. Older people in the workplace are often given promotions and many fringe benefits. They also have a higher probability of being employed in comparison to young people. The pays and salaries for older people are far much higher, while young-aged employees receive low salaries and fringe benefits. The young people are rarely given promotions to executive positions in the organizations.
Young people are sometimes not recruited to jobs because they are perceived as having lesser experience as compared to older employees. Harassment of an individual because of their age is popular, for example, when a person is fifty years old, they are asked to retire because of their age (Rubin & Hewstone, 2004). In schools, there is age discrimination: junior students face harassment from the senior students. The senior students believe that they are superior to others.
Racial, age and gender discrimination, will diminish in the future if the correct measures to mitigate these challenges are efficiently effected. Civil societies should ensure that there is fairness and justice in the treatment of all individuals. People should learn to appreciate others by avoiding classifying and judging others based on their age, gender, and race.
People should love one another and accept people for who they are. Discrimination in the workplace should be mitigated by use of policies and regulations that protect all individuals. The state should implement laws that help fight against discrimination especially to women, for example, since women have equal rights as men in workplaces hence they should be treated equally.
References
Hammond, R. A., & Axelrod, R. (2006). The Evolution of Ethnocentrism. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 50(6), 926–936.
Rubin, M., & Hewstone, M. (2004). Social identity, system justification, and social dominance: Commentary on Reicher, Jost et al., and Sidanius et al. Political Psychology, 25, 823-844.
Watson, L. B., Robinson, D., Dispenza, F., & Nazari, N. (2012). African American women's sexual objectification experiences: A qualitative study. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36, 227-239
