Discrimination

[Mianame]

Just to note before I begin this, let's take a look at the definition of discrimination:

"Unfair treatment of a person or group on the basis of prejudice."

So with that said, this isn't just about racism or sexism, but all discrimination in our world. So here are a few questions to get us started. Once I see some responses I'll probably post my own, but for now I just want to hear what you guys think.

Is discrimination gone? If not, has it become better over the years, say since around the 1900s, or is it worse? Do you think it's possible for all discrimination to disappear? Why or why not? If it did, would that be the definition of a Utopian society to you?

[Avan]

Oh no... Discrimination is far from being gone. Anyone who thinks its gone needs to read a newspaper! (Really! I mean this completely seriously and not as an insult - I saw an article on the front page of LA times a few days/weeks ago dealing with discrimination - they also crop on online, in TV, lots of places...)... And //facepalm//... How could I forget: 'fursecution' - lol.
Discrimination has become less of a problem, that's for certain. However, when dealing with humanity, it's impossible to remove discrimination entirely without having humanity transcend to something greater.
I would not define a lack of discrimination to be a utopian society in itself: a true Utopia would require much more than just that, though it is a good component.

[RedneckFur]

I see alot less discrimination here in the south than I do in many places. 

That said, acknowleding differences isnt discrimiation.  If, in discribing a freind, I call him "the tall black man"  I havent discriminated by identifying his race.  I've just made it easier for the person I'm talking to to identify the freind when he arives.

I think that discrimination isnt the problem that it once was, and I think its really not the problem that many people think it out to be.  If anything, it seems to have reversed itself in the media and legal system.  Anyone can turn on prime time tv, and watch a comedy where the butt of every joke is a middle aged, overweight, balding white male.  To direct a joke at anyone else would be seen by somone as discrimination.  Also, when it comes to divorce, parenting, and abortion laws, Father's Rights are nonexsistant.

I've traveled nearly all of the US, and met many intresting people.  The only time in my life I was ever insulted for being gay was by a self-professed progressive from San Francisco.

[Narei Mooncatt]

I think discrimination is still pretty existant in another form:

That said, acknowleding differences isnt discrimiation.  If, in discribing a freind, I call him "the tall black man"  I havent discriminated by identifying his race.  I've just made it easier for the person I'm talking to to identify the freind when he arives.

Nowdays, I would say the people that would cry foul at the tall black man description are the ones that are doing the discriminating because it seems it's now become acceptable to judge the offence of a topic by how much someone is offended and not by the true intent of the topic.  While Redneck's statement is not discrimitory, somebody would take it upon themselves to *make* it discrimitory. I would also say that discrimination will never be completely gone. Discrimination is usually aimed at one group because another group doesn't agree with them. This doesn't have to be something like right vs left politics or straight vs gay. There's always something that's gonna squick everyone. Even the most out there and open person will have things that they don't agree with, so everyone will always not want to go along with something. And any time something new comes up (I.E. furry in the mainstream media), you're gonna have discrimination until/unless it becomes more normal and wide spread.

[Draconium]

Discrimination is still present.

And to be 100% armor piercing sharp, anyone who thinks discrimination is gone is delusional.

That said, discrimination has "visibly" decreased since the 1900s. There are no signs that say "Irish need not apply". However, discrimination still continues in the form of "affirmative action".

To end my thoughts: I do not feel that discrimination will ever disappear. It is Human nature to regard those who are different with suspicion. It is that nature that is the root of discrimination.

[Narei Mooncatt]

However, discrimination still continues in the form of "affirmative action".

Ughhh, how could I forget that one. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employers: Discrimination in disguise. Thanks for mentioning it.

[Motor Mouth]

Ughhh, how could I forget that one. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employers: Discrimination in disguise.

Quoted for smartness. There will always be thoughts and views that many hold racist, sexist, etc... But widespread, GOVERNMENT-MANDATED discrimination is the problem and A-A isn't the solution.

[Avan]

Yes, affirmative action isn't going to get us anywhere... It's killing the patient to cure the cancer.

[CiceroKit]

Discrimination will always be present, and sometimes there is good reason for it. When I worked for a domestic violence shelter, I worked with a lot of women that many would classify as man-haters. I, myself, am not, but at the same time, I understand why so many of my coworkers were. They had seen terrible atrocities caused by men; the most extreme cases of abuse against women and children. There are people who don't want to believe the problem exists, or they want to think that domestic violence happens to men as much as it does women, but the hard data from the FBI shows that 95% of victims of abuse are women. Therefore, regardless of the wrongfulness of the discrimination, there is an underlying reason for it.

Recently, I have noticed certain gay males in the fandom use extremely sexist language and hate-filled speech against women. I take great offense at this, since I am a woman and someone who has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community. It seems that for some, sexual preference has become less about love than hate, and that saddens me. It saddens me most because the victims of such hate and discrimination should know better. But it seems to be part of our humanity to be driven to extremes. That being said, when someone has been the victim of discrimination, often they will become perpetrators of a different flavor of discrimination.

A healthy level of generalization is good. If we viewed each and every person and each and every thing as truly unique, we would go insane. For example, I am a woman, a Democrat, an environmentalist, bisexual, artistic, and white. If someone assumed certain things about me based on any of that, there are certain things they would be absolutely right about, yet some other things they might likely get wrong. Just because I am a woman doesn't mean I want to have children, though many women do. Because I am a Democrat doesn't mean that I agree with all government entitlement programs. I do not. And because I am white doesn't mean that I exert privilege.

There is some institutional discrimination that is absolutely necessary. If you run a trucking company, you simply cannot hire someone who has a visual impairment that would prevent them from being a safe driver. If you operate a restaurant where the clientele expects to see sexy women serve them over-priced diluted cocktails and chicken wings, you should have the right to refuse a wait staff position to a man. After all, being a sexy woman would be a job qualification for such work. I can completely understand such discrimination.

So yeah, there will always be discrimination. We just need to learn how to choose our battles.

[RedneckFur]

There are people who don't want to believe the problem exists, or they want to think that domestic violence happens to men as much as it does women, but the hard data from the FBI shows that 95% of victims of abuse are women. Therefore, regardless of the wrongfulness of the discrimination, there is an underlying reason for it

Personally, I think a woman who was slapped by her husband is a lot more likely to call the police than a man who was slapped by his wife.  Most men who have been abused by their wives or women in general are ashamed to admit that it even happens.  I choose to take that data with a grain of salt because I know a significant portion of the domestic violence against men never gets reported.

[CiceroKit]

Yes, there is a stigma when it comes to men reporting violence they have suffered at the hands of a woman. However, there are more and more who report cases. Standard margin of error being considered, and the percentage of domestic violence victims who are women would still hover around 80%. But then again, the very fact that men who are victims of domestic violence fail to report it is due to discrimination. We, as a society, hold certain beliefs about what it means to be a man. Many of those beliefs are based on false pretenses, for example, the belief that men don't cry.

For the domestic abuse counselor, he or she only knows what gets reported. When you have women who have been brutally raped, beaten, and some who have suffered far worse, and you see this numerous times per week, without seeing the same happening to men, it is understandable where discrimination comes into play. That was my point.