Introduction

We know that a lot of groups are discriminated against: on grounds of religion (or lack of one), skin colour, nationality, weight and gender but there are many more than these stock and everyday occurrences of discrimination. What is most tragic is that some of them are even invisible because they are so prevalent and seen as acceptable

1. Male Runners

In this age of gender equality, you would think that discriminating on gender would be a thing of the past ‘ sadly it is not the case in some walks of life. Most bizarrely, the UK’s biggest cancer charity which has running events all over the country right through the year does not permit male entrants. Cancer Research UK cites that their participants want a male-free environment for the events. The charity has claimed in the past that revenue would drop if men were permitted to enter

2. Goths

Young people who dress in black, purple and grey, wear makeup and listen to a particular brand of music ‘ this is a simple view of the Goth and the distrust of the lifestyle has become so endemic that it is considered a particular hate crime by Manchester Police. A young Goth couple were brutally kicked by a gang in 2007 ‘ leading to the death of one of them – Sophie Lancaster. It made national headlines and it was not the only case of attacks on Goths either

3. Redheads

No other hair colour ‘ except for blonde ‘ has so many jokes levelled against it from questions about the colour of pubic hair, sexual appetite and even temper. Redheads (or gingers) are often seen as fair game. Despite being a minority hair colour, ginger children represent the majority of those complaining about bullying. Yet all is not lost ‘ polls often reveal that 20% of men prefer redheads over any other hair colour. Ginger men though tend to suffer through life, rarely seen as conventionally attractive.

4. Stutterers

You would hope that we have come a long way to remove the link between presumed intelligence and eloquence of speech but you would be wrong. Many businesses cite speech impediment in any form as a barrier to a person’s career development. We place so much emphasis on communication skills that those who struggle do find it difficult to get by. They are often passed over for promotion out of some idea that they might not cope (presumptions about nervousness also abound)

5. Average-looking People

Regardless of qualifications, opportunity, intelligence, ability and skills ‘ across all social groups better-looking people get on much better in life compared to their average or unattractive counterparts. Many experiments have been conducted over the years to show that both men and women when given all other equal options will choose the most physically appealing of an option ‘ and surprisingly it is men, not women, that suffer more for their lack of physical attractiveness. These conclusive results came from a 1994 government survey of the US population

6. Short Men

‘Tall, dark and handsome’ goes the mantra ‘ women rarely (if ever) seem to prefer a man of smaller stature for a life partner and both genders believe that a man should be taller than a woman in a relationship. A US show called Dateline deliberately rigged a test to ask women ‘ from a pool of men ‘ which they would date. The most attractive man was also the shortest and not a single woman chose him. Discrimination goes deeper than this though ‘ some believe shorter men to be more aggressive for example; taller men also earn more on average

7. Darker-Skinned Black People

Distinct from racism because it is not about black vs white, a particular phenomenon of recent years is the notion that black people with paler skin tone seem to get on better in life than their darker skinned counterparts ‘ regardless of background, education and job. They earn more, are considered more for promotion and tend to have greater opportunities available to them. They are also promoted by the media as more attractive. Such groups often look down on each other too

8. People With Regional Accents

Regional accent is one of the basest forms of tribalism and therefore discrimination. Every region of every country that has variation in accent will cast questions on the intelligence, wealth and education of those who sound different. In England, northerners see southerners as indulgent and money obsessed whereas southerners see northerners as crass, beer-swilling, uneducated and uncouth. In any country, rural communities (and what are considered rural accents) are seen as lacking in refinement or intelligence. The media often perpetuates such stereotypes too

9. Climate Change Activists

If it isn’t enough that such people are accused of being unemployed, socialist, lazy and even being anti-progress – and even part of a global conspiracy to destroy capitalism ‘ in some businesses it can cost you your job. Tim Nicholson worked for an Oxford property firm; his job was Head of Sustainability so his job was to take the company forward to a greener future. Yet the company did not like that he supported the causes he was supposed to support and sacked him. He sued them and won his case on grounds of discrimination

10. Wrong Name

Yes, people are discriminated against on the basis of their names ‘ at it works at both ends of the spectrum where people make assumptions about you based on your forename. Have an upper class names like Tarquin or Rupert and people will assume you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and are not particularly intelligent, getting a well-paid job because ‘daddy’ gave you a leg up. Have a name like Chanel and people will assume you are uneducated, unemployed, are a single parent and have a criminal record. Each country has its name discrimination ‘ in the USA in particular certain names are seen as exclusively white or black

Conclusion

It seems if you are a short, ginger Goth who likes to run and lives a green lifestyle you are going to experience a number of socially acceptable prejudices. Rather than joking about it, we should accept people as individuals and not make assumptions about them or their nature.