"Women, and to certain extent children, commonly use more indirect methods of signifying."Signifying can affirm, critique, or build community through the involvement of its participants." (Carole Boyce Davies, Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. This form of signifying lends itself to validating a pecking order style of dominance based on the result of the verbal exchange. African American men in this verbal art form focus their anger, aggression, and frustration into a relatively harmless exchange of wordplay where they can establish their masculinity in verbal 'battles' with their peers. Some scholars define signifying as primarily a male-dominated activity (the female version is called 'specifying'). "Above all, signifying is a ritualistic practice that serves various functions in different African American discursive and communal spaces.
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