Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
If Status dynamics are the easiest layer of the onion to observe, the next layer which we call Rank is more hidden. The elusive nature of the Rank layer is part of its mystique, the reason we find it hard to identify in action. We use the word Rank to invoke two associations. One is the idea of something that is no longer fresh, that has an unpleasant smell. The other is the association with military Rank. Social Rank is made up of memberships in social groups and the ways in which those memberships influence our social conditioning. We use the word “role” to describe the parts of us that are most shaped by socialization. Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
We speak of oppression as outmoded supremacy. Can supremacy ever be anything other than smelly? We will offer the idea that there are functional, circumstantial reasons for overvaluing certain people in certain situations. In a disaster-at-sea movie, it makes sense to have the strongest swimmer dive into the already flooded part of the upside down ship in order to save the cluster of protagonists. So we will coddle, support, privilege, and overvalue the star swimmer to make sure that they have all their nutrition and strength as they represent the best chance for our survival. Once we’re rescued by the helicopters and safe on land, it no longer makes sense for us to advantage that swimmer. In other words, in that particular context, it’s supremacist but not oppressive.
As human collectives, we have a tendency to institute supremacies much more easily and readily than we dismantle them. All societies are burdened with practices of unfair advantage of some, which may have been functional at some point in history but now exist as part of the social weave and tend to go unexamined. This is the Rank system. Rank the system under which some of us are systematically valued more than others is closely connected with roles. Rank systems exist in all human societies; the specific groups that are valued more or less highly across the globe and across time. Our focus here is mainly on Rank as it currently exists in the United States.
Roles
We associate the word “role” with the theater that maybe where the concept originates. In ancient Greek drama, players wore masks that let the audience know what land of character they were playing comic or tragic, Icing or warrior. Behaving appropriately according to social role is quite similar to playing a character in a play. Characters may do and say only certain things, according to the script, stage directions, and director the actor has a limited ability to determine how their character will appear, at least in conventional theater.
Rank
According to Dr. Nieto, as a result of social conditioning, there is an insect like consciousness, a crusty, robotic, mechanistic layer that interrupts our personhood. It is in place by three to five years of age. The chances of this not happening or of preventing it are nil. It is ascribed, applied, and installed without critical thinking or reflection. Rank is heavy.
Julia Maxwell
Roles, Continued
Jacob Moreno (1993) suggests that people in post-industrial societies like ours are socialized to a narrow scope of behavior and a rigid, limited role repertoire. Such societies tend to restrict members to prescribed roles with rigidly defined rules of behavior (businessman, soccer mom, rebellious teenager). Where roles are predetermined, many behaviors and ways of expressing are outside the role description. Much of socialization is to teach and learn congruence with social roles.
For example, it could be out of role for an adult to sit on the floor and pull off their socks and shoes with delight, or for a woman to sprawl in a chair and smoke a cigar. Some out-of-role behaviors and attitudes can be hard to discern. Some social roles demand primarily high Status stances, others low Status ones. We all get more practice in the land of Status play, be it low or high, associated with our prescribed social roles than with the other kind. Our role and social assignments maybe comfortable or uncomfortable for us, depending on the situation and on the fit with our personality or temperament.
Societies have mechanisms designed to train us in our roles as soon as possible after birth. All elements of our environment, family, school, media, peer culture, etc., conspire together to socialize us. This process, socialization, is not free of bias quite the opposite. We internalize the particular biases of our social context while very young. By the time we are three years old, we demonstrate fluency with social values and norms. Children’s play is rich with social roles practice, explicit performance of social norms, and the mechanisms for enforcing them, such as ostracism. Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
Consider children playing at being parents, young adults experiencing relief at the mastery of at least some social expectations, and middle-aged adults comfortably living into unexamined lifestyles. Initially, we may feel we are adopting a character or putting on a costume, but eventually the roles come to feel quite natural. We enjoy our newfound competency, knowing “how to be,” whether as a college student, an up-and-coming employee, a hot date, or even a total failure. Knowing what is expected of us and how to do that very thing can open doors to the social world. Like a well-worn pair of shoes, our roles may feel natural. Yet, until we step out of them, we may not have a feel for our own true footprint. We may not know the extent to which the shoes have shaped our gait. We often don’t even “feel” our roles. Instead, we may readily identify with them as a central definition of who we are. Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
“I’m an addict.”
“I’m the vice-president of finance.”
“I’m a college drop-out.”
“I’m a happy mother of three.”
From a human development point of view, we first focus on fulfillment of expectations of our assigned Rank roles; we work to become our roles. As we mature, if we develop skills that take us out of conventional attitudes, we may begin to feel the limits and edges of our socially ascribed roles. We may wish to express a more authentic self, to discern chosen values from inherited ones, and to act on our deepest passions. Many people spend the latter part of their lives getting out of the mold that they worked so hard to fit into. This shift beyond our socially conditioned role selves is what we identify with anti-oppression and true Power. Moving to more authentic expression can be a huge risk one that anyone might hesitate to take yet worth everything.
The River of Oppression
Picture a river, flowing along with a strong current. A member of a Target group is in the river managing life against the current. Part of Target socialization is to normalize the conditions of living against the current of the river. This is how the world feels and looks; this is how much effort it takes to move for ward — or even to stay in place. The member of a socially devalued group does not necessarily pay attention to the force or quality of the oppressive current. In order to work, participate, shop, and live each day, the Target group member needs to navigate the river unconsciously as if in a trance.
But at any moment an incident can happen. An incident is an event that disrupts the trance and causes the Target group member to be swept down the current, forcing them to engage more consciously with the river. The incident reminds the member of the socially devalued group that Rank is always active. It “puts them in their place.” While status play is reversible and anybody can play high or low, Rank is not like that, Rank is like a river: it flows in one direction only, The hierarchically dualistic river of oppression is always there, advantaging members of Agent groups who can move with the river, in the direction of the current and disadvantaging members of Target groups in complex, crosscutting, and internalized ways.
Roles, Continued 2
We cannot shed our roles until we master them. Before we can move beyond our roles, we must learn to inhabit and fulfill them well. We can’t skip any stage of development, and adequately fulfilling social roles is a necessary skill that marks adulthood. Fulfilling these roles enables us to participate in work, partnerships, and public life.
As we move into increasingly conscious living, we may find it harder to fit into social expectations and Rank roles. Concerns and self-identity shift. Even as we gain authenticity, integrity, and Power, we may be perceived as losing something rather than gaining something. We may seem somehow less sturdy, less predictable, less delineated. Performing roles we have mastered can bring social rewards money, influence, belonging, and safety which discourage us from changing even when the mold becomes uncomfortable. Role compliance can provide psychological safety and physical safety from violence, hunger, or need. Our cultural rules can prevent people from claiming the wisdom of their later years, a wisdom that society desperately needs. Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
When we identify with roles that no longer fulfill our needs for growth, roles that once fit us well can become a kind of prison, an obstacle to authenticity and Power. Identifying with narrow, socially defined roles limits our perceptions and prevents us from accessing the fullness of our creativity and our truth.
Agent & Target Group Memberships
In our discussion of Status play, we reviewed high Status style and low Status style. Status dynamics are changeable; that is, within the same context, a person can use high Status one moment and low Status the next. They are also situational; a person may play low Status in one context and high Status in another. In contrast, Rank roles are neither changeable nor situational. They are fixed. They show up consistently from one context to another and hold continuity across time. Within the Rank system, two roles are central: we refer to them as Agent and Target.
As individuals, we likely hold both Agent and Target group memberships. Social groups that are overvalued and normative we term Agent groups. As members of social groups that hold Agent Rank, we are overvalued and receive unearned advantage and benefits. Examples of Agent groups include adults, heterosexuals, Whites, biological males, or the U.S.-born. As members of Agent groups, we receive affirmation and support and have ready access to rewards. As Agent group members we have an easier time getting jobs, are more likely to see people “like us” on television, and can expect that our concerns will be taken seriously by public institutions.
Social groups that are devalued and “otherized” we term Target groups. As members of social groups that hold Target Rank, we are undervalued and subject to marginalization. Examples of Target groups include children/ elders, gay/lesbian/bisexual people, People of Color, women, and people born outside the U.S. As members of Target groups, our access is limited and our movement restricted. For example, we experience difficulties finding work appropriate to our education and abilities, we often see people “like us” depicted negatively in the media, and public institutions rarely address our concerns.
Role-bound Agent-Target Dialogue
When both Agent and Target are fully in-role, plugged in to the system, the conversation itself becomes part of the system. They enact a scripted play, with no consciousness and no freedom to change their roles. Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
A: I don’t even think of you as a kid. You are so much more mature than any other 14-year-old I know.
T: I bet you don’t know a lot of 14-year-olds.
A: You don’t have to be rude. I was paying you a compliment.
T: I’m not interested in your compliments. You don’t get it at all.
A: That’s what I get for trying to talk to you.
T: Talk at, you mean.
Social Rank Category | Agent Rank | Target Rank |
Age | Adults (18-64) | Children, adolescents, elders |
Disability * | Able-persons | Persons with disabilities |
Religion (relates to religious culture) ** | Cultural Christians, Agnostics, and Atheists | Jews, Muslims, and all other non-Christian religions |
Ethnicity | White Euro-Americans | People of Color |
Social Class Culture | Middle and Owning Class (access to higher education) | Poor and working class (no higher education access) |
Sexual orientation | Heterosexuals | Lesbians, Gay men, Bisexuals, Queer, and Questioning |
Indigenous Heritage | Non-Native | Native |
National Origin | US-Born | Immigrants and Refugees |
Gender | Biologically male | Female, transgender, and intersex |
* Now identified by Hays as “Developmental and acquired disabilities”
**Now identified by Hays as “Religion and Spiritual Orientation”
The flip side of disadvantage is advantage. You can’t have a down without an up. Tim Wise (Cook, 2009)
Economy of Energy – Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles
Imagine a room in a military setting such as a barracks where enlisted personnel are busy working under pressure of a deadline. An officer walks in. What do the enlisted personnel do? They stop what they are doing. They stand and salute. They await orders. The enlisted must suspend their focus and attend to the officer. The officer will either say “at ease” releasing the enlisted back to their task or give them an order. Now imagine an officer and an enlisted soldier, both in civilian clothing, shopping at a grocery store located off the base. The chances that the enlisted person will notice the officer are very high. The officer, on the other hand, may or may not notice the enlisted person. The presence of one of these people will affect the other more. These images are illustrations of a differential economy of energy. We suggest that the enlisted person must use some or much of their energy to tune in the officer and their requirements. The reverse is not necessarily so.
Rank dynamics are not reversible. Because societal systems are set up in ways that advantage members of Agent groups, those individuals can allocate energy focusing on personal interests. Usually, as Agent group members we do not notice the advantage of being free to spend our energy on things like reaching our goals, meeting our needs, pursuing our dreams.
Because societal systems are set up in ways that advantage members of Agent groups, Target group members must use considerable energy dealing with social barriers and restriction of movement, unnecessary suffering that comes from being frequently given devaluing messages: some overt, some not; some intentional, some not. Target group members must also use energy to manage internalized oppression including internalized versions of barriers, restrictions, and devaluation. As we will discuss later, members of Target groups are conditioned to be always aware of and attentive to Agent group members. The extra energy it takes to get through the day, to get a job and to perform at extraordinary levels, drains our life energies. As in the example we gave of the officers and enlisted personnel, Target group members unconsciously or consciously live subordinately, while Agent group members receive un-earned benefits from inequality.
Laurel Collier Smith’s Story
One April day I was on a walk to a therapist’s office. I had all manner of things to work out in my once-per-month appointment with this wise person. That morning I remember feeling particularly inspired.
My walk to the office was interrupted by some men whistling at me from a car window, but I shook it off and returned to my thoughts. Ten minutes later, more shouting from a different car: “Nice Ass!,” they shouted. I scowled and kept moving only sort of able to return to my thoughts. Two blocks from my therapist’s office a third incident: a man pulled up behind me slowly driving there for a few long minutes before pulling up beside me and asking if he could please drive me somewhere scary!
Incidents like these are not infrequent for most Targets of sexism, but three in an hour’s time was enough to take all the inspiration I’d had right out of me. When we say that oppression interrupts the flow of life, this is what we mean. I spent that day’s long-awaited and expensive therapy session sorting out the fear I felt about my safety, and the disgust I felt about being so objectified. What deeper puzzles might I have been able to go after that day had the incidents not piled up one after another? I feel most angry about oppression when / think about how short and valuable life is. So much irreplaceable time is spent by Targets when we have to cope with incidents like these.
Laurel Collier Smith
Gender Target Group Member, Assignment: Rank and Rank Roles.