Student Question
After reading The Outsiders, have you ever experienced discrimination due to your age group or gender?
Quick answer:
Discrimination refers to unfair treatment based on traits like age, gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Reflecting on personal experiences, consider instances where you were excluded or treated unfairly due to these traits. Common examples include exclusion from activities due to gender, not being taken seriously because of age, or facing stereotypes in fields like math or science. When recounting such experiences, consider how they affected your self-perception and emotions.
The term discrimination refers to the unfair treatment of others because of certain traits such as their socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender, or race. Discrimination can include many things, such as excluding people from certain activities because of prejudice or treating them badly through hate speech or acts. When reflecting on what it means to you and whether or not you have experienced it, consider if you have ever been treated badly because of a certain trait. For instance, it is, unfortunately, a common occurrence for groups of young boys to exclude girls from playing sports with them at recess. If you were ever told that you could not join a certain group like this because of your gender, or perhaps because of your race or the friend group that you are from, then you have likely experienced discrimination. When recounting this story make sure to include key details such...
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as what the form of discrimination was, what the reason was, and how it affected you. For instance, did it make you ashamed of a certain quality of your identity? Or perhaps it made you angry because you actually are proud of that trait.
What does discrimination mean to you? Have you faced discrimination due to your age, gender, or group affiliation?
Discrimination means different things to different people, and since this is a very personal question, you will have to reflect on your own experiences. We can, however, brainstorm some possibilities to get you started.
Maybe you have felt discrimination about your age. If you are a young person, for instance, perhaps people do not take your opinions seriously even when they are well thought out and valid. Or maybe you have been passed over for a job you wanted because someone felt you were too young even though you were qualified.
You might also have experienced discrimination because of your gender. Think, for example, about stereotypes young women sometimes meet when they are interested in academic subjects like math or science. On the other hand, you could also reflect on the discrimination young men sometimes face when they do not match up with the expectations about masculinity.
You should also consider racial discrimination or perhaps even religious discrimination and ask yourself if people have ever dismissed you as unimportant or inferior because of your race or religion.