#14 Why Are Black Girls So Loud?

I was stopped at a light while headed to work the other day when three high school-aged Black girls stood at the light waiting to cross. I was a few cars back, but noticed that the girls were talking loud. This loudness was very familiar to me, as it was similar to what I experienced visiting the local high school last year. It is also the same decibel level I witness with young ‘urban’ Black girls on BART trains. It is nothing like what I experience with my own daughter. As a note, Black boys can also be loud as well, but I have found that boys/men of all colors/ages tend to regulate themselves based upon the threat their behavior might bring from nearby males. This seems not to be the case with Black females.

As a point of clarification, it is not lost on me that many ethnicities are louder than run-of-the-mill White or Asian folks. I have come to believe this is due to a polychronic communication dynamic that has group members competing simultaneously, via loudness, with each other for conversational air time. But I suspected that this Black girl/Black women loudness thing was somehow a bit more. It felt like these young ladies were purposefully raising the volume because of their surroundings.

Well I was right, and there is quite a bit of literature on the subject (here), much of it by Black social scientists. It seems that loudness is a mechanism of defense, as well as aggression, and just plain making sure that people do not take you for granted. Unfortunately the loudness comes with consequences as well, like the label of intimidating and unattractive.

I confirmed these assertions with a Black female co-worker, who described Black girl loudness as a way of putting everyone within hearing distance on notice that the speaker is not to be ‘messed with’. I am interested if her assessment fits with the perceptions of other Black women, and men as well.

James C. Collier

READ MOST RECENT POSTS AT ACTING WHITE...

Technorati Tags: #14 Why Are Black Girls So Loud?, Sex, Dating, Tyler Perry, Acting Black, Acting White