Manners and More: The 'Dignitarian' cause

By Christine Kurtz-White

Last week, M&M proposed to continue her dissertation this week on how the business world created a policy of casual dress one day a week and how it was welcomed with great jubilation by all those poor, suffering employees who, as payback to the poor, beleaguered employer, proceeded to abuse the privilege accorded them by dressing down so tastelessly (is there such a word?) that, when customers walked in the door, they forgot what they came for as their senses were accosted by a sea of bared skin and sandals slapping across the tiled floors of the workplace.Instead, she proposes exploring a new movement, the Dignitarian cause, which activists are mounting to disseminate the principle that every worker deserves respect in the workplace, a condition called rankism. The man who devised the word, Robert Fuller, is on a mission to end the behavior.So, what is rankism or rankish behavior? File it in your brain next to racism and sexism, advises Penelope Trunk, who writes the Brazen Careerist blog in the Boston Globe, and brace yourself for a big change at the office, because rankism is another kind of discrimination we should not tolerate.Interesting. She cites an example of rankism or rankest behavior in the hiring of an intern and ignoring her all summer. Or pointlessly yelling at the receptionist about a manager who is late. Or a professors taking credit for a graduate students research. The essence of the problem is that all these are examples of people who think they can treat someone disrespectfully because of their lower rank.Fuller, who was quoted earlier in the column as the inventor of the word, is part of what has become known as the dignitarian movement," which maintains that people have a right to be treated with dignity no matter where they are in the pecking order. He asks if you are wondering if youre at a job where youre treated with dignity.M&M believes that the most powerful statement he makes is: You need to receive recognition, humane treatment, and a living wage. If your job doesnt qualify, you need to speak up, which is hard to do, but having a word to identify the problem is half the battle. Vocabulary changes things.He cites The Feminine Mystique, which referred to the problem without a name. It took five years after the book was published for the word sexism to evolve and become available and women had a weapon to make demands. Fuller urges his audience to take cues from the success of that movement. Say Hey, thats rankest the same way youd say, Thats sexist.M&M recalls today, sometimes with great pain, an experience that began in the late 1960s, when she was still a raw recruit to human resources. In those days, most of the education of a personnel manager was through experience." And many times, it was at the hands of longtime employees who practiced rankism (still to be invented as recently as today) as a matter of course. What heightened her sensibilities was the fact that she was designated First Woman Management Trainee and, Dear Reader, you can be assured that sexism would have been the more fitting label affixed to her role. Adding to her discomfort was the fact that this was her very first job in the world of business.As might be gathered from her happy reception of the current Dignitarian cause, she feels exonerated, even these many years later, that she fought back, always remembering her Southern mothers cautionary comments: Always be a lady when standing by your principles. Those were tough years for M&M. Yet, she has no regrets because she learned so much and, in doing so, gained many allies (all men) who remain her good friends today.If any of her readers have thoughts or questions about this latest advance in stamping out rankism, please touch base with her!Christine Kurtz-White can be reached at kurtzwhite@adelphia.net.