There’s a huge amount of pressure for Black women, especially in white-dominated workplaces, to be extroverted. Mainstream media has presented a one-dimensional view of Black culture as sassy and larger than life, which places extroverted Black characters and personalities at the forefront without a thought for Black women that don’t fit the stereotype.
In our daily work lives, we’re expected to be the office jester, the team entertainer, the person with the best dance moves at the Christmas party screaming ‘Yass’ when a Cardi B song comes on, the go-to person to have a gossip with. It’s a role many of us (me included) have played up to at times, purely to just survive in our respective organisations, because when Black women are introverted in the workplace, deviating from the expected stereotype, it can have a damaging impact on our career.
Jeri Bingham, the founder and host of HushLoudly, a podcast dedicated to amplifying the voice of introverts and the creator of Black Introvert Week explains, “When we aren’t overly talkative, overly expressive and living our lives out loud as they expect, I believe our lack of animation and conversation can be misread as mean, unfriendly, angry, unhappy, and even not engaged. The trouble with this is, this misperception can impact leaderships’ decisions about raises, bonuses, promotions, and key assignments.”
Read the full article at Cosmopolitan