I'm not a big fan of corporate lift etiquette for a couple of reasons. It can make exiting the lift a study in inefficiency, and it's all about making people your bitch.

The basics of lift etiquette are fairly simple - allow women to enter and exit the lift first. It seems harmless, but the more full the lift is the harder it is to implement this. Etiquette that demands an unrealistic limit on the number and ratio of men and women in the lift is not sustainable. In a packed lift "good manners" are thrown out the window and people leave in the easiest order they can. It's not rudeness, just a better way to do it.

If there are a bunch of men in the lift, there often seems to be a bit of competition to leave last. The women have all exited and one guy is near the front insisting on being courteous and allowing all others to leave first. This guy is nearly always wearing a suit. It reminds me of Garden State, where Natalie Portman's character insists on sitting on the back of the motorbike, because "Sidecars are for bitches. Anyone who sits in the sidecar is automatically your bitch." Everyone who accepts the dude's offer to leave before him is his bitch, and you can see in his eyes that he knows it. There are usually at least two of these men, but only one of them is the king of the jungle, and the other resigns to be his bitch.
"After you."
"No after you."
"Thanks."
"That's right. You're my bitch."

It pleases me most when the lift is full and some older arrogant looking guy in a suit is holding the lift door so that everyone can get through, all the while being in the way. As I pass him I smile courteously and think "I may be your bitch, but you look like a fool."

It puts the whole politeness to women thing into perspective, but that's a rant for another day.