Black Mens Studies. Serie McDougal III
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caps (or doo-rags), bandanas, and plain white t-shirts to the point they have been commodified and transformed into mainstream symbols of style and masculinity. The hip-hop industry has garnered millions of dollars by transforming Black male clothing styles into designer apparel. Back male clothing styles are also associated with Black male bodies and how they move in their clothing. Based on experimental and observational research, Boykin and Cunningham (2002) identify one of the dimensions of African American culture: movement expressiveness. It is the interweaving of movement, rhythm, percussiveness, music, and dance with other social processes, including learning (Allen & Boykin, 1992; Boykin, 2000; Boykin & Cunningham, 2002). Kinesics or culturally informed styles of body movement is a part of movement expressiveness. One form of bodily expression is walking style.
Walking Styles
Walking styles for African American males can express self-esteem, pride, and power. These walking styles come in many forms, ranging from standard to highly rhythmic, sometimes referred to as a stroll. Sometimes they are done casually, other times, to impress, or even for fun. Notably, Levine and Norenzayan (1999), who measured the relationship between social values and walking speed, found that people in more individualistic cultural groups had faster paces of walking than those in collectivist ones. Johnson (1971) identified several walking styles that had been occasionally used by African American males. He described them as typically being slower (relative to White males), sometimes with the head elevated and tilted to one side, while one arm may be swinging at the side. Johnson (1971) also described a more exaggerated style, the gait, which he describes as a kind of walking dance in which all parts of the body move rhythmically. Hanna (1984) presents observed walking styles occasionally used by Black males in school settings. According to Hanna, some African American sixth grade boys engaged in a walk with a swagger that includes the head tilted to one side, with one arm swinging at the side, while the other is tucked in a pocket. Hanna describes another polyrhythmic walk that involves the dynamic movement of the torso, while the hips rotate or shift sideways and the upper torso is held upright. Neal, McCray, Webb-Johnson, and Bridgest (2003) described a more exaggerated non-standard African American male walking style or stroll as “a deliberately swaggered or bent posture, with the head held slightly tilted to the side, one foot dragging, and an exaggerated knee bend (dip).” Franklin (2004) describes Black male stylized walking as mechanisms for reinforcing self-confidence, readiness, rhythm, individuality, creativity, fun, and strength. According to White (2011), these Black male walking styles, from those of Barack Obama and Michael Jordan to Jay-Z, symbolize assuredness and the ability to handle oneself in any situation with coolness and sophistication.
Facial Expressions and Gaze
Facial expressions are a means by which people communicate a broad spectrum of emotions, including happiness, anger, surprise, fear, disgust, sadness, and interest (Ekman & Oster, 1979). According to Ekman and Oster (1979), while there may be a universal set of facial muscles that are triggered by ←8 | 9→certain emotions, other facial expression triggers vary by social learning and culture—things that trigger facial expressions of the same emotion can vary from culture to culture. Females generally exhibit more facial displays of emotion than males (Andrews & Majors, 2004). Smith’s (1983) investigation of gender difference among Black females’ and males’ smiling found no significant differences, though she concluded that females may smile more at opposite sex partners compared to their interactions with the same sex.
There is a lack of research on the eye movement component of African American expression, particularly on African American males. Hanna’s (1984) research does show that, as compared to Whites, African Americans were reluctant to maintain direct eye contact with persons who occupied positions of authority. Andrews and Majors (2004) explain that there are cultural differences in how African Americans interpret eye contact compared to some other racial/ethnic groups. African Americans are less likely than Whites to associate eye contact and length of gaze with attributes such as honesty, for example. Andrews and Majors (1995) explain racial, cultural and gender differences as they influence Black men’s views on when it is appropriate to maintain eye contact:
Research on eye contact across race generally shows that African Americans look at others while listening with less frequency than Whites (Smith, 1983; Harper et al., 1978; Hanna, 1984). White people tend to look at others more when listening than speaking, whereas Black people do the opposite (Hanna, 1984). It has been found that Black parents sometimes teach their children that looking at an adult in the eye is a sign of disrespect (Byers & Byers, 1972). In contrast, White children are socialized to do just the opposite: looking away from a speaker is seen as disrespectful. Overall, LaFrance & Mayo (1976) found that looking while listening occurred least for Black males and most for White females. The eye and visual literature shows that, overall, females use eye contact more frequently than males. (Smith, 1983, p. 43)
African American males use eye behaviors such as staring, eye-rolling, and cutting the eyes. Staring can be associated with tension, distrust, or anger—especially when directed at Whites given the current and historical racial dynamics of the country. Cutting the eyes and eye-rolling, visual movements more typically used by females than males, communicate displeasure or disapproval but also playfulness and flirtation. Rickford and Rickford (1976) describe eye cutting the following way:
The basic cut-eye gesture is initiated by directing a hostile look or glare in the other person’s direction. This may be delivered with the person directly facing, or slightly to one side. In the latter position, the person is seen out of the corners of the eyes, and some people deliberately turn their bodies sideways to achieve this effect. After the initial glare, the eyeballs are moved in a highly coordinated and controlled movement down or diagonally across the line of the person’s body. This “cut” with the eyes is the heart of the gesture and may involve the single downward movement described above, or several sharp up-and-down movements. Both are generally completed by a final glare, and then the entire head may be turned away contemptuously from the person to the accompaniment of a loud suck-teeth. (p. 296)
A male who attempts to flirt with a woman or whistle at a woman might be met with a cutting of the eyes as an expression of her disinterest. However, understanding the meaning of eye cutting is critical, because eye cutting can also be employed in a flirtatious manner. The eye-rolling technique is different in the sense that it involves moving the eyes from one side of the sockets to the other in an upward arch, accompanied by the lowering of the eyelids (Andrews & Majors, 2004). However, it similarly communicates a message of disapproval and playfulness or flirtatiousness. The facial expression referred to as mean mugging, the stern facial expression or grimace, is more associated with males. White (2011) explains it as a display of masculinity, hardness, and invulnerability and a rejection of the stereotype of the grinning and submissive, enslaved Black male.
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Black Males and Dance Styles
Rhythmic motion is a key feature of Black cultures (White & Cones, 1999). Dance is an additional aspect of Black male kinesics. Dance can also be an expression of masculinities, as it was used in African ethnic groups to facilitate and celebrate passage from boyhood to manhood (Nichols, 2014). African American dance is characterized by the expression of joy, sensuality, exuberance, freedom, creativity, and spontaneity (White & Cones, 1999). African American dance typically involves the mastering of basic steps while also encouraging individuals to improvise, create new steps and allow themselves to be moved by the spirit of their impulses. During slavery, at frolics, African Americans engaged in their own dances and dance competitions. Dancing allowed them mastery over their own bodies (Lussana, 2016). When the drum was outlawed, African Americans innovated other rhythmic devices such as patting juba, a form of rhythmic body percussion that enslaved Africans used to accompany song and dance. Juba involved hand clapping, foot stomping, and using the hands to strike the arms and legs creating rhythmic sounds. Africans also engaged in work songs that accompanied their labor activities, coordinating their movement, just as they did in Africa. These songs were often improvised on the spot and performed in call-and-response fashion. In addition, there were field hollers, short, improvised, call-and-response style songs sung by enslaved Blacks working in the fields. Eileen Southern cites a traveler’s diary describing them as follows:
Suddenly one [enslaved Black person]