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by Leticia Nieto and Margot F. Boyer

I n previous columns, we’ve dis-

cussed Status, Rank and Power

– three separate layers of inter-

actions between people. We envi-

sion these as a model of concentric

circles, like layers of an onion, with

Status on the outer surface, Rank

under that and Power in the center.

We use the term Power to refer

to our connection to our core, our

authentic self and the person we

are at our best moments. A person’s

ability to be grounded, to exercise

compassion, to use humor in a heal-

ing way, to love without demands,

and to support themselves and

those around them can indicate the

presence of Power.

Status play refers to the up-and-

down dynamics of interactions, a

type of behavior that humans share

with other animals. Status play can

be as light as teasing among sisters.

It can also be hurtful, upsetting and

dangerous. Actions that assert our

own importance, value or point of

view are high-status moves. We

can do this in a way that is helpful

and positive for those around us,

by exercising leadership, speaking

out on injustice or teaching a skill.

Likewise, low-status behavior can

be positive and supportive, as when

we actively listen to someone else’s

story, lend our support to another’s

idea, or share our appreciation for

someone. High-status behavior can

be used in harmful ways too – the

ranges of aggressive actions from a

verbal put-down to a violent assault

are high-status moves. Similarly,

low-status behavior is not always

benign. Passive-aggressive behavior,

refusing to acknowledge someone

or ignoring a problem are low-status

moves. High-status and low-status

behaviors are not, in themselves,

good or bad; they’re just part of

what it is to be a human being.

The key to identifying status play

is to ask “when did it start” and

“when did it stop.” Status-play

interactions come and go; we may

play high-status in one situation and

low-status in another. Our status

style preferences reflect our individ-

ual personality, and also our profes-

sional roles, our family and cultural

background, and the styles of our

geographical region. Many people

in Seattle use a low-status style,

sometimes described as “polite but

not friendly.” It’s a cool, correct,

introverted way of relating. People

who move here from other regions

sometimes find it chilly, and many

say that it’s hard to make friends

with Seattleites. New Yorkers, in

contrast, often have a high-status

style that is both friendlier and more

aggressive. This style is hotter, loud-

er, more likely to embrace and more

likely to fight. Visitors to New York

may find this exciting or frightening

– depending on their status prefer-

ences.

Status-level

interactions

can grab our

attention in a

given moment,

but we can

change them

by shifting our

behavior. One

strategy for

getting

along with

people is

to notice the style preference

of the person we’re with, in that

moment, and to let them have their

preference. When both people insist

on taking a high-status position,

there’s likely to be conflict. When

both choose the low-status position,

the interaction can be stagnant and

the pair may find it impossible to

make decisions or move forward.

Flexibility in status play can enhance

our interactions, free up conflict and

allow more vitality and energy in

our relationships. Movies, television

and theater are full of changeable

and dramatic status play, which can

be fun to watch and to participate

in – especially when we don’t take it

too seriously.

Our focus here is on issues of

Rank, as distinct from Power or

Status. When specific discriminatory,

exclusionary or prejudiced acts can

be seen as discrete in time, we can

examine the function of Status play

in that

interac-

tion. Rank

dynamics, though,

are operating full-time.

Rank describes how society

systematically and consistently

advantages the same people while

marginalizing others. Because Rank

dynamics are not as distinct in time

as Status dynamics, we have found

it useful to envision Rank as an

essentially mechanical system that

sorts people into two groups. The

system automatically (and mostly

unconsciously) favors some people,

who we refer to as Agents. Agents

are members of groups that are

socially overvalued. Sometimes this

is referred to as having “privilege,”

but because the Rank system is

mostly unconscious, Agents rarely

notice being privileged. It takes a

lot of work to perceive the ways

that the Rank system overvalues,

favors or advantages us.

The system also categorizes

some people as Targets, who are

members of groups that are socially

undervalued, sometimes referred to

as “oppressed.” Because the experi-

ence of being socially undervalued

or oppressed is unpleasant, Targets

are more likely to notice the Rank

system, even when we don’t have

words for it.

ASK LETICIA > R A N K , P O W E R , S TAT U S

Strategies in Addressing Power and Privilege Part 3: Skill Sets for Agents

given moment,

by shifting our

behavior. One

in that

interac-

tion. Rank

dynamics, though,

are operating full-time.

Rank describes how society

systematically and consistently

advantages the same people while

marginalizing others. Because Rank

dynamics are not as distinct in time

Understanding Oppression

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Another helpful metaphor is

to think of Rank like a barcode

beneath our skin that is scanned in

many subtle ways in all situations.

This happens so quickly we don’t

even notice it. One small part of this

scanning process is our scanning of

each other: In the instant of meet-

ing, we identify the age, ethnicity,

gender and other “rank” roles

that each person plays. If we can’t

figure out how to classify the other

person, we might feel uncomfort-

able or even ask “What are you?”

This discomfort reveals how much

we rely on knowing how to classify

each other in order to figure out

how to relate. It can be useful to

think of Rank as being made up of

all the socialized messages we have

internalized about the groups we

belong to and those we don’t.

We use psychologist and author

Pamela Hays’ ADDRESSING frame-

work to remember nine rank

areas currently important in the

United States: Age, Disability,

Developmental and Acquired

Disabilities, Religious culture,

Ethnicity, Social class, Sexual

Orientation, Indigenous background,

National origin and Gender. Most

of us have been assigned Agent

rank in some areas, and Target rank

in others. We don’t get to choose

these memberships; they are stuck

to us by society, or socially ascribed.

Each of these Rank areas, or social

memberships, is constructed – that

is, invented as ways to categorize

people. Our position is that they are

fairly faulty rather than accurate,

but that they operate as if they

were valid, so we must deal with

them.

Most of these Rank memberships

are permanent. Age changes in the

course of our life; we experience

Targetship growing up, acquire

Agency when we become adults,

around age 18, and are again clas-

sified as Targets around the age

of 65. Disability rank may change,

for example, if we experience tem-

porary or permanent ability loss

through an accident or illness. Most

of our Rank memberships are pretty

stable throughout our lives. This is

important to remember because,

unlike Rank, Status can change

moment to moment, giving us the

illusion of a much more flexible or

moveable social system.

Because most of us are classified

with both some Agent and some

Target memberships, effective

anti-oppression work requires us to

develop better skills on both sides.

The skills for Agents and Targets

are different; we need both sets of

skills, but we use them in different

situations. These skill sets are like

toolboxes. The early skill sets resem-

ble a small toolbox, with only one

or two tools in it. As we grow and

practice our anti-oppression skills,

the early skills don’t disappear, but

we get new tools to add to our col-

lection. We still use the earlier skills,

but we have more ability to choose

appropriate skills that will serve our

anti-oppression purposes. These

are not “stages” of development

– we don’t gain some new skills and

then use them reliably 24 hours a

day. Rather, we are more able to

respond effectively to oppression,

more of the time, when we have a

bigger toolbox. We are more likely

to use our high-level skills when

we are feeling calm, supported

and well. Anything that causes us

distress, like being hungry or tired

or angry, makes it more difficult

to use the high-level skills. For this

reason, we see taking good care of

ourselves as an important dimension

of anti-oppression work.

In this article, our focus is on anti-

oppression skills for Agents, mem-

bers of groups that are socially over-

valued. From childhood, part of our

training in being an Agent is to be

unconscious of the whole Rank sys-

tem and of the ways we are overval-

ued by society. Even as adults, we

don’t know that this is happening,

and the people around us often pre-

vent us from figuring it out. Usually,

they don’t know they’re doing this

because they are also unconscious

of the rank system. We learn to not

notice differences and the way that

they affect our experience and our

access to resources.

Before you read the rest of this

article, identify one area where the

Rank system identifies you to be

an Agent. Stay in that “channel”

as you read the skill descriptions

– think about how you might have

experienced these skills as an Agent.

(For the Target skill sets, please

check out the October 2006 issue of

this magazine.)

In our Agent memberships, we

learn skills that allow us to make

ourselves and people who share

our Agent rank comfortable. We

learn not to notice the existence of

the Rank system and the ways in

which we are socially overvalued.

We learn to not notice members of

the Target group, and to not value

them as much as we value ourselves

and other Agent group members.

Most of this training is unconscious

on the part of other people around

us; often they are passing on behav-

iors and attitudes that they are not

aware of. We absorb these mes-

sages unconsciously, too.

The first skill for Agents is

called Indifference. When we use

Indifference skills, we are able to

not notice the existence of Targets

and their life conditions, and the

whole system of Rank. It can be

as innocent as saying, “I don’t

know any _____ people.” A person

who lives in a small community

might have a similar attitude, “I’ve

never met any _______.” “There

aren’t any ________ around here.”

Often, however, a person using

Indifference skills will not notice the

existence of a person with Target

rank, even when they are talking

directly to them. Saying, “I’ve never

met a _______” while talking to a

member of the group being named

is an extreme, but not unusual,

example of Indifference skills at

work.

The physical posture we associate

with this skill set is a simple shrug

of the shoulders that says, “I don’t

know,” “It’s not my problem” or

“I don’t know what you’re talking

about.” The key to understanding

Indifference skills is to remember

that we all must select a portion of

About Dr. Leticia Nieto

Leticia Nieto, M.A.,

Psy. D. was recently named

Outstanding Faculty of

the Year at St. Martin ‘s

College. Dr. Nieto brings

an innovative approach to

her training and facilita-

tion work. She draws on

expressive techniques to involve participants deeply and provide oppor-

tunities for them to open to insight and change. She has successfully

brought her skills to higher education and other learning communities,

to service providers in helping agencies, to workplace teams, and to

many community groups.

www.wcsap.org/events/trainingseries.htm

Margot Boyer, left, Leticia Nieto

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the information and stimuli that we

are exposed to. Through condition-

ing as Agents in various social areas,

we learn which elements “matter”

or are “relevant.” These tend to be

Agent-related elements. The result

is that Target-related elements are

out of our consciousness without us

even trying to ignore them. It is not

difficult to notice that what bolsters

indifference is a socially enforced,

passive aversion and devaluing of

Targets and Target-related aspects

of life.

Indifference skills require the least

amount of energy from us. They are

the skills we default to in the areas

where we have been assigned Agent

membership. When we encounter

Target group members and can no

longer use Indifference skills, we

use the next skill set – Distancing,

which allows us to hold members of

the Target group at arm’s length, to

keep them “away” from ourselves.

Our feeling is that when we do this,

we are actually trying to distance

the awareness of our own unearned

advantage, rather than those who

have been labeled “other.” Using

distancing skills, we emphasize

the difference between the Target

group and ourselves. We notice how

much they are not like us.

This skill set is more complex

than Indifference; it has three dif-

ferent positions. One is “distancing

out.” The physical gesture of this

skill is holding our arms in front of

us, rigidly, as if holding something

away from our bodies. The words

sometimes verbalized as, “I don’t

have anything against _____; and

the sometimes unsaid next thought

may be, “I just don’t want to live

next door to them.” Or it may take

this shape: “They can do what they

like as long as they stay in their own

neighborhood.” The feeling here,

sometimes just beneath the surface

and often unconscious, is of disgust,

perhaps dislike, or fear. “Just keep it

away from me” is the message.

The skill of “distancing down”

is the one we are most likely to

recognize as bigoted or oppressive.

The gesture of distancing down is

holding our arms rigidly and down,

as if trying to push a lid down on

something, trying to close a garbage

can, or trying to shove something

down into a container. This skill set

is verbalized with overtly negative

messages toward the Target group:

“They’re sick,” “they’re dirty,”

“they should be in jail.” Sometimes

people using this skill set learn not

to verbalize these feelings, but

this doesn’t necessarily change the

underlying attitude. Another ver-

sion of this skill set is the attitude of

wanting to “help” or “convert” or

“heal” the Target away from their

Targetship and towards something

resembling Agency.

The third Distancing skill is “dis-

tancing up.” Distancing up allows us

to see members of the Target group

in a pseudo-valuing way, perhaps as

special, beautiful, even spiritual or

magical. The gesture is of holding

our arms up and away from us with

our hands open as if to frame a

beautiful view. The verbal messages

of such distancing up express appre-

ciation for the group’s special quali-

ties – but without awareness of the

Rank system, the fact of Agent privi-

lege – or for the individual qualities

of target group members. Verbal

messages associated with this skill

include “_____ are so spiritual,” “_

_____ seem really close to nature,”

“_____ make beautiful music,” or

___ are so amazing, exotic, heroic.

Often this skill is accompanied by

appropriation of things associated

with the Target group, such as col-

lecting art or music by Target group

members or imitating a cultural style

from that group.

Like holding our arms rigidly raised

for hours, Distancing skills take a lot

of energy. They don’t come easily.

Organized hate groups, societies

organized around oppression and

difference, are ways of providing

group support for the difficult act of

maintaining the distancing posture.

But distancing is uncomfortable,

especially when we find ourselves

interacting with Target group mem-

bers a lot. At that point we are likely

to shift into the next skill set, which

feels like a big relief.

The skill set of Inclusion offers

some advantages over distancing.

Using Inclusion, we focus on the

similarities between Target group

members and ourselves. We use ver-

bal messages that emphasize simi-

larity and connection, like “We’re all

children of God,” “fundamentally,

we’re all the same,” “treat everyone

as an individual,” and “every human

being suffers.” The physical posture

associated with Inclusion is arms

open, as if to embrace members of

the Target group. As Agents, we

experience Inclusion as liberating.

It feels like we’ve finally gotten out

of the oppression business. We can

appreciate members of the Target

group. This seems terrific, to us.

It takes a while to notice the

limitations of Inclusion skills, and

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 Euro-Americans People of Color

Social Class Owning and Middle Class (access to higher

education)

Poor and Working Class

Sexual Orientation Heterosexuals Gay men, Lesbians & Bisexuals

Indigenous Background Non-Native Native

National Origin US Born Immigrants and Refugees

Gender Male Female ,Transgendered, and Intersexed

AGENT/TARGET RANK Rank memberships can be deciphered using the acronym ADDRESSING as a guide to where Agent and Target ranks are ascribed.

These social memberships are assigned by society, not chosen by individuals.

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many of us never do. In society as a

whole, Inclusion is often seen as the

height of intercultural appreciation,

diversity and liberation. Yet Inclusion

is still an Agent-centric skill. Using

Inclusion, we do not recognize

the Rank system, the ways we are

consistently overvalued, and the

consequences of our privilege and

of Target marginalization. Without

realizing it, we see our own group,

and its values and norms, as the

standard, and expect everyone

to align with Agent-centrism and

Agent-supremacy. We want others

to meet our expectations. We may

host an intercultural potluck, but we

will likely feel annoyed if the people

who come bring up the topic of

oppression. We feel happy to

welcome Targets – but we uncon-

sciously expect them to conform to

our expectations, to make us com-

fortable and to avoid issues that we

don’t want to talk about, and even

to be grateful to be included.

One danger of the Inclusion skills

set is that, being very clear that we

do not subscribe to or hold negative

views about Targets, we can resist

the perspective that oppression is

essentially a supremacy problem,

rather than one of prejudice and

discrimination. When we use

Inclusion skills we are not conscious

of the Rank system, and we can’t

work effectively against oppression

until we wake up.

Moving beyond Inclusion requires

us to move well out of our comfort

zone and out of the conventional

rules of our culture. It’s a difficult

transition that we’re unlikely to

make without a powerful moti-

vation. Usually it takes a strong

personal relationship with a Target

group member – a close friend,

lover, family member or mentor

– to care enough about the issue

to confront our internalized Agent

supremacy and step into the next,

most difficult skill set, Awareness.

Awareness is initially experienced

as unpleasant. When we access

Awareness skills, we feel cold, para-

lyzed and even disoriented by emo-

tions such as guilt and shame. We

see the reality of the Rank system

and realize how much it favors us

as Agents, and we notice the work-

ings of oppression and privilege all

around us. We realize the many

ways we have been overvalued in

our lives, and we see the ways that

the Targets around us are under-

valued. We are likely to remember

incidents in the past, situations

where we used lower skill sets,

where we failed to speak up about

injustice, where we took advantage

of our privilege. The whole Rank

system is revealed to us, and we

are rightly horrified, particularly

because it becomes readily obvious

to us that we are going to continue

to use Indifference, Distancing and

Inclusion skills for the majority of

the time.

The physical posture of Awareness

is immobile or frozen. We may feel

nauseated or panicked, and we

may verbalize horror and shame.

“I can’t believe I never saw this

before.” “Everything I say is oppres-

sive, because I’m the oppressor.”

“I should have done...” Awareness

skills are difficult to stay with,

because they are so uncomfortable.

Usually, when we access Awareness,

we will shift back to Inclusion at the

first opportunity.

Practicing Awareness skills takes

determination and support. Most

settings in society discourage us

from using Awareness skills, so it’s

helpful to have friends, allies and

colleagues who can confirm the

reality of oppression regardless of

our perceptions. Awareness skills

are, at heart, an opportunity to

listen to and learn from the experi-

ence of Targets. Using Awareness,

we realize that we don’t know

what it’s like to experience oppres-

sion in this particular Rank channel

(even though we may experience

other kinds of Targetship). We can

practice what writer and priest Henri

Nouwen called “learned ignorance”

by thinking and, when appropriate,

saying, “I don’t know what that’s

like. Would you tell me more?” We

can notice the discomfort we feel

when we use Awareness, name it

and stay with it as long as we can.

The Agent Skills Model As Agents develop anti-oppressive consciousness, they build better skills for understanding and responding to oppres-

sion. This development is a holarchical sequence of skills sets, as shown below. Each of these skill sets represents

some tools for dealing with oppression. As we move toward Allyship, we have more and better tools to work with.

Experience of Allyship Awareness

Indifference Distancing Inclusion Awareness Allyship

Agent-centric Skills

Agent-relative Skills

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It’s a good opportunity to pay atten-

tion to what Targets have to say

about their experience.

If we can tolerate the discomforts

of Awareness, listen to the experi-

ences of Targets, believe Targets

who speak about their experience

of oppression (especially when their

experiences do not fit with our

sense of the world), and delay a

shift back into Inclusion, we may be

able to access the precious skill set

of Allyship. Using Allyship skills we

are, for that moment, fully aware

of the reality of oppression and

of the privilege we receive under

the rank system. We acknowledge

that we can never fully understand

the experience of Targets in that

rank area. We see the Rank system

operating within us and in others,

and we recognize the dehumanizing

effect this has on all of us. At the

same time, we remain able to think

and to act. We are not paralyzed;

we can choose to work against

oppression, to midwife other Agents

in developing anti-oppression skills

and to support Targets. The key to

understanding Allyship skills is notic-

ing the shift from dreading experi-

ences of Awareness to a stance

of welcoming such experiences.

Another way to describe this shift is

a growing sense of being comfort-

able only when being uncomfort-

able – which signals that Awareness

is happening.

Using Allyship skills, we can take

on the challenging process of help-

ing other Agents wake up to the

reality of the Rank system. We can

listen to Agents we might describe

as bigots and help them move to

the next skill set – increasingly with-

out judgment. We recognize the

need for, and can support, Targets

in creating Empowered Target-Only

space. We can use the social agency

of our rank to change the system,

to challenge the social hierarchies

that favor ourselves. Allyship can

mean listening. It can mean speak-

ing out on injustice. It can mean

gently helping other Agents to gain

access to a new skill set.

Even if we sometimes can access

Allyship, we will not use those skills

all the time. When we are busy,

distracted or caught up in the dra-

mas of our own lives, we probably

aren’t doing anti-oppression work.

Our commitment to Allyship means

a process of waking up, over and

over again, to the Rank system and

its operation in our lives. As we see

that we ourselves don’t always use

our best skills, we can practice lis-

tening to other Agents and helping

them, too, to wake up to the reality

of rank and privilege.

In future articles we’ll share ideas

on ways to help ourselves and oth-

ers develop more comprehensive

skills. n

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