Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - April 2, 2025
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the TikTok and YouTube challenge trend that is known as "Attitude. Now Walk Off" or similar titles.
This post presents some history of the "Attitude. Now Walk Off" including information about the earliest example of that challenge that I have found, a description of that challenge from from Google Results, my description of how that challenge was/is originally performed, and my description of adapted/variant forms of that challenge.
This pancocojams post also presents my explanations about what the word "attitude" really means in the TikTok or YouTube challenge video challenges that are known as "Attitude. Now Walk off" or similar titles. This information is presented along with the date and description of the earliest example of this trend.
In addition, this post presents a few video examples of body gestures that may be associated with African American females' "attitude". These examples are from stomp and shake cheerleading, majorette dance battles, or the "Attitude. Now Walk Off" challenge itself.
Click __ for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a video example of "Attitude. Now Walk Off" from the popular children's YouTube channel "Grey's World" with a focus on the addition of children's center content from Roblox's "Dress to impress" show and a dance move from Pop singer Jo Jo Siwa's video/song "Karma". Selected comments from that video's discussion thread are also included in that post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
GOOGLE RESULTS FOR THE QUESTION: "WHAT IS THE ATTITUDE. WALK OFF CHALLENGE (April 2, 2025)
"The "Attitude Now, Walk Off" challenge is a social
media trend where participants express an attitude or make a statement, then
abruptly walk away.
Here's a breakdown:
The Concept:
The challenge involves someone expressing an attitude or
making a statement, often with a confident or sassy demeanor, and then
immediately walking away, as if they're done with the situation or person.
Variations:
The "attitude" part can be anything from a sassy
remark to a confident pose, and the "walk off" can be a quick exit or
a more dramatic departure.
Popularity:
The challenge gained traction on platforms like TikTok and
Instagram, with users creating videos showcasing their "Attitude Now, Walk
Off" moments.
This video demonstrates the "Attitude Now Walk
Off" challenge:
[The video that is embedded in that Google Results entry is the "Give me attitude challengehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLyyXXDmQ84 The Tia Bee Stokes đş choosing happy, Aug 4, 2024 Attitude.. now walk offâźď¸ WHO ATE?? Tell me in the commentsđ¤Ł"
-snip-
The participants in that video's challenge followed the original description of that challenge (as given above in this pancocojams post. WARNING: One woman made the stick out her middle finger gesture ("flipped the bird" with both hands) while walking away.
-snip-
I believe that it's important to document that the earliest videos that I have found for the "Attitude. Walk off" challenges consist of young African American girls or young African American women. The selection of a video of young White women to represent this challenge presents a false narrative of this cultural activity and is a continuation of the "White people as default" representation that is ubiquitous in American and other Western cultures.
****
MY EXPLANATIONS ABOUT WHAT "ATTITUDE" MEANS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TIKTOK & YOUTUBE CHALLENGE "ATTITUDE. NOW WALK OFF"
General Description:
"Attitude. Now Walk Off (and similar titles) are lightly competitive, fun internet videos in which (usually female participants take their turn standing in front of an unseen camera and responding to a person's "[Attitude. Now walk off" commands. The word "attitude" is an abbreviation of the words "Give" (or "Show") attitude.
Each participant has an equal length of time to respond to those commands. The camera records how the participants' demonstrate their "Attitude" and how the participant walks off.
These individual performances occur immediately one after another without any audience or without any audience responses such as applause. However, in a few videos, appreciative comments are heard during or at the conclusion of some participants' turn.
No formal winners are determined at the completion of this challenge. Commenters writing in the discussion thread for those videos share who they think won the challenge and/or rank the participants on a scale of one through ten, with ten being the highest. Commenters may or may not share why they chose that participant as the winner. Some commenters may declare a participant to be the winner because they are "stans" (serious fans) of that participant. Some commenters may (also) use certain criteria to select who they believe won that challenge. Criteria may include which "attitude" and "walk off" is the best because of its authenticity (i.e. its adherence to stereotyped "angry/sassy Black woman trope), and/or most skillfully performed, and/or most creative, and/or most dramatic.
The Original Description Of The "Attitude. Now Walk Off' Challenge
Originally, the Attitude. Now Walk Off" challenge consisted of the participants taking turns in front of an unseen camera and responding to the camera person's "Attitude" command by silently performing a specific body gesture or gestures and/or a certain facial expression or expressions and then immediately walking (or strutting) away. These body gestures/facial expressions were supposed to be associated with the stereotypical image of "the angry, sassy Black (African American) female. Less often, usually when they were exiting away from the camera's sight, participants would say some taunting words, or self-bragging statement. The participants then responded to the unseen camera person's "Walk off" command by immediately walking (or switching, or strutting) away from the camera's view.
Adapted Versions Of The "Attitude. Now Walk Off' Challenge
Adapted versions (variant forms) of the "Attitude. Now Walk Off Challenges consist of participants taking turns in front of an unseen camera and responding to the camera person's "Attitude" command by silently dramatically posing in place like a model or performing some brief creative dance move. The participant responds to the camera person's "Walk off" command by dancing off, strutting away, or performing some other creative movement that takes them away from the camera's view.
****
WHAT "ATTITUDE" ORIGINALLY MEANT IN THESE "ATTITUDE. NOW WALK OFF" CHALLENGES
Here's some information about this meaning of the word "attitude"
I. General Definition Of The Word "Attitude".
noun [2 of 4 meanings]
-manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to
a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind:
a negative attitude; group attitudes.
a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude."...
****
II. Google Results For The Question: What Does "Having An Attitude" Mean?" (retrieved March 30, 2025)
"What does it mean if someone has an attitude?
AI Overview
When someone is said to "have an attitude," it
generally means they exhibit a negative, often aggressive or uncooperative,
behavior or demeanor, suggesting they are difficult to deal with or unwilling
to be helpful or polite.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Negative or Disagreeable:
The phrase often implies a person is consistently negative,
difficult to please, or generally disagreeable.
Unwilling to be Helpful:
Someone with an attitude might be perceived as unwilling to
cooperate, assist, or be polite.
Aggressive or Confrontational:
It can also suggest a person is confrontational,
argumentative, or even aggressive in their interactions.
Lack of Respect:
The expression can also indicate a lack of respect for
others or a disregard for their opinions.
Cocky or Haughty:
In some contexts, "having an attitude" might mean
someone is acting overly confident, arrogant, or haughty"
****
"Attitude" As Part Of The Stereotypical "Angry/Sassy Black Women" Trope
"Sassy" is often used as a synonym for Black (African American) females being "sassy".
Here's an excerpt from https://stanforddaily.com/2018/02/15/the-sassy-black-girl-no-more/ The âsassy black girlâ no more" Opinion by Natachi Onwuamaegbu, Feb. 15, 2018.
The term sassy is not just reserved for black females â it can be used to describe men and women of all ages and races. But there is a connotation of the word that is highly racialized. By grouping all black females under one umbrella of a termâoutspoken or not, lively or notâby labeling us all as that âsassy black girl,â you are ridding us of individual personalities. You are dismissing our thoughts and our voices as being out of anger. By labeling our words as sassy, you are reducing our opinions to a trope. Instead of talking, we are always talking back. Our emotions are set aside. Every feelingâanger, sadness, discontentâis sassy. But we are so much more than a single word. We speak up because we are brave enough to. Because in this society that works to silence our voices, we speak up anyway. Black women are beginning to rise, ushering a new wave of voices. âŚThese Black voices are brave because they yell loudly enough that someone hears us. The voices that do escape do not deserve to be dismissed as sassy.
[âŚ]
On top of that, maintaining a sassy persona is a feat in and
of itself. A lot of young black girls felt pressure to be that sassy sidekick.
The way the media portrays the black woman is flat and one dimensional,
consisting of one liners and and dramatic personality flairs. We have no
substance, no opinions worth actually taking into account. We are simply the
sidekick to the ever so emotionally complex white woman. Our existence is
portrayed as a foilâhighlighting aspects of others personalities delegating ours to the sidelines. I ask young black girls to
forget that. They are not the side character, they are not the sassy trope,
they are not anyone or anything ascribed to them. They are who they want to be."...
****
A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AND THE EARLIEST EXAMPLE THAT I'VE FOUND OF THE "ATTITUDE. WALK OFF" CHALLENGE
"Attitude. Now Walk Off" is an challenge performance that became a somewhat popular trend/meme on TikTok and on YouTube (particularly YouTube video shorts.) . Almost all of the "Attitude.Now Walk Off" videos that I have come across showcase African American girls or African American women. .
"Attitude. Now Walk Off" challenges are labeled as videos that are fun /funny. The participants who are videotaped doing the "challenge" compete with each other (in a light hearted way) to perform the funniest and/or most authentic example of [Black female] attitude. However, that explanation isn't given in any of these videos that I've come across. I've sussed out that explanation based on the similarities these videos have regarding their performers' body gesture/facial expressions as well as the "sassy" taunts or putdowns that a few of the performers make while they are "on camera". Some of the comments that are found in these video's discussion threads also support my belief that the "attitude" portion of this challenge was/is meant to specifically refer to African American female attitude.
The earliest example of the "Attitude" Walk off" challenge that I've come across is âAttitude Then Walk Out] â Is this the earliest one? published by @thebigefamily Jun 11, 2024
https://youtube.com/shorts/um_lwYOThyI?si=wYcwYCP3b5SitId3
{Pancocojams Editor's note- This may not be the earliest internet example of this challenge. However, it's the example with the earliest date that I've come across with extensive searching.
The Bige Family video showcases that Black (African American) family performing the "Attitude Walk Off" challenge in their home. In the beginning of this video, the father explains the challenge as one in which people rank on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the highest), who does the best.
The father chats with his wife a bit then says the words "Attitude. Then Walk Off". In the context of this challenge, "attitude" means to show or give your best demonstration of what is stereotypically considered to be Black woman's attitude. "Walk off" means to strut away or otherwise immediately leave that space so that the next person in line can have their turn.
The children range from girls and boys who are elementary school age (the oldest around eight years old) to a pre-school girl. After the last child has her turn, the voice of the mother is heard saying "Attitude. Then Walk Off" to her husband and he is shown doing that challenge.
This format that has become standard for this challenge: The people performing this challenge stand in a vertical line facing a camera person that isn't shown in the video itself. One at a time, a person responds to the unseen camera person's command to "[show] attitude" and [then immediately] "walk off".
In that video (and in almost all of the subsequent video examples of this challenge that I have seen) the "attitude" walk off" performance is done without the person saying anything. However, in a few videos, the person (usually a young girl) whose turn it is to show [or "give"] attitude makes a rude, or confrontational, or self-bragging/putdown to another person remark (or "taunt").
Most of the "Attitude Now Walk Off" videos use the same recorded female voice for the unseen person making those commands. A commenter in the discussion thread for the July 2024 video given as #5 below, wrote that he or she thought that that recording came from that particular video. However, that wasn't confirmed by that video's publisher.
I believe that many of the non-Black examples of this challenge that I've watched showcase women or men who are parodying the body gestures and facial expressions of the stereotypical sassy/angry Black woman or showcase participants performing dancers' or models' dramatic poses/movements. I think this may have been because those White or other non-Black participants "didn't understand the assignment" (i.e. they didn't know what "attitude" was suppose to mean in this challenge.). Unfortunately, I can't publish TikTok videos in this pancocojams post. However, TikTok has a number of examples of non-Black people doing both forms as I've just described of this "Attitude Now Walk Off" challenge.
-snip-
*In my opinion, the Bige family's "Attitude. Walk Off" is quite problematic for a number of reasons, the most glaring one [to me] being that a young girl sticks her middle finger up in her "attitude" portion of the challenge and then walks off with both her hands doing the middle finger. A number of commenters in that video discussion thread expressed shock that she did those gestures and wrote that they would have faced severe consequences from their parents if they had done that.
****
A FEW VIDEO EXAMPLES OF THE "HEAD JERK" & "LEAN FORWARD TO INVADE OTHERS' PERSONAL SPACE" GESTURES WITH SOME FACIAL EXPRESSIONS THAT MAY ACCOMPANY THOSE GESTURES
These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
VIDEO #1 - You Don't Want No Problems, You Just Talk Like You Do!
Courtney RenĂĄ, April 15, 2023
The full video of the high school stomp and shake cheer battle at a high school game. Absolutely love these young ladies đŻâ¤ď¸
This is an example of some body gestures that may be associated with African American "attitude" (from a performance of a stomp and shake bleacher cheer).
****
VIDEO #2- Lady Dawgs x Garfield Gators Termite cheerleaders
Cheer Mom Dance Mom Videographer, Oct 10, 2024 [Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
-snip-
This is an example of some body gestures that may be associated with African American "attitude" (from a stomp and shake cheer battle).
****
VIDEO #3 - Bring It!: Call-Out Battle: Jackson Dolls vs. Birmingham
Dolls (Season 4, Episode 7) | Lifetime
.-snip- This is an example of some body gestures that may be associated with African American "attitude" (from a majorette dance battle). **** VIDEO #4 - HER FACE SAID IT ALL... like "NEXT"!!! #dance #majorette #tumble
@PolabearRed, February 24, 2024
.-snip- This is an example of some body gestures & facial expressions that may be associated with African American "attitude" (from a majorette dance battle).
**** ADDENDUM - Angry Black Woman | Black Women | One Word | Cut
Cut, Mar 21, 2016
-snip- Read the comments in this video's discussion thread for different opinions about this subject. **** This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.
