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Discrimination
structural-concept
At a glance
Source-by-source
“The unjust and differential treatment of members of different identities … and other groups at the individual and institutional or structural level. … Identities can be actual or perceived; for example, a person may be discriminated against for a perception of disability or other marginalized status.”
APA defines discrimination as unjust, differential treatment across many identity axes — age, gender, race, religion, immigration status, disability, sexual orientation, class — operating at both the individual and the institutional or structural level. It notes the targeted identity can be actual or merely perceived, distinguishing interpersonal prejudice from structural policy.
“The unequal treatment of members of various groups based on race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion and other categories. … In the United States the law makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.”
The value here is the gap the two halves expose: RET's social definition sweeps in sexual orientation, class, and ability, but the federal list it cites covers only race, color, religion, national origin, and sex — so much of what the everyday word names is not federally actionable. Where APA stresses individual-vs-structural and TJA parses statutory "gender-based discrimination," RET's contribution is marking that lived-vs-legal divide.
2026 · entry updated 2025-01-01 VERIFIED-ARCHIVED
“Gender-based discrimination is language used to describe discrimination under a law that broadly treats transgender identity, gender identity, or gender expression as protected categories. … When discussing discrimination and nondiscrimination law, be sure to clarify the language and definitions relevant to the jurisdiction in question.”
The Trans Journalists Association covers the narrower legal term "gender-based discrimination," used where a law treats gender identity or expression as a protected category. It cautions that "sex" and "gender" are not interchangeable in legal contexts and that nondiscrimination law varies by jurisdiction, so writers should match the precise statutory language.
Synthesis
“Discrimination” is plain, usable vocabulary, defined consistently as unjust differential treatment across identities at both the individual and institutional levels. APA defines it as “the unjust and differential treatment of members of different identities… at the individual and institutional or structural level,” noting the identities can be “actual or perceived.” Racial Equity Tools gives the same definition with a legal frame: unequal treatment based on race, gender, class, orientation, ability, or religion, some forms of which U.S. law makes illegal. The two definitions agree closely.
The one specialized entry is the Trans Journalists Association’s, which treats “gender-based discrimination” as a legal term of art under laws that protect gender identity and expression. It is a use-with-care because it is precise legal language, not a loose synonym. This is the thinnest page in the chapter’s structural set: two general definitions plus one narrow legal entry. So “discrimination” is less a contested usage question than a defined building block, the thing that systemic racism, ableism, and classism name at the structural level.
Audience notes
- Journalists and editors. Fine as a general term; when the legal sense matters — a protected category, an unlawful act — be specific rather than using “discrimination” loosely.
- Advocates and internal comms. Pair it with the level: interpersonal versus institutional. The same word covers both, but the remedy and the evidence differ.
Related terms