When I was younger, people used to call my friends and me “mature for our age.” Naturally, I thought it was a compliment, saying we were put together or responsible.
As I grew up, I realized the harsh reality. When a girl of Color is called “mature for her age,” it means she’s being sexualized. From being called “fast” in middle school hallways to being called “grown” in magazine covers, Black and Brown Girls are taught it’s better to be seen and not heard.
This is more than a personal experience. Generations of Black and Brown girls have had their language policed and been sexualized for admiration and comfort.
“Seductive, alluring, worldly, beguiling, tempting, and lewd.”
These words have been attached to Women of Color for centuries; our worth is tied to how we appear.
The adultification of young Black and Brown Girls is not praise but prejudice disguised as veneration. This robs Girls of Color of their innocence, creating a complex, forcing them into a world that views them as “exotic”.
The only way to understand this exploitation is to go back to the root of the cause.
“Historically, white women, as a category, were portrayed as models of self-respect, self-control, and modesty—even sexual purity, but Black Women were often portrayed as innately promiscuous, even predatory.”
This system was never accidental; it was built around this innate bias to justify prejudice against those who don’t fit the Eurocentric beauty standards.
“An enslaved person who refused the sexual advances of her slaver risked being sold, beaten, raped, and having her ‘husband’ or children sold.”
Slavery never ended; it just evolved into something that people can turn a blind eye to. It evolved into cultural systems rooted in chattel slavery—systems of exploitation, and racialized sexual dehumanization. Something that once existed in plantation fields now lives in the quiet biases of classrooms.
These biases haven’t vanished. They are more subtle, disguised with “representation.”
Though centuries have passed, those narratives haven’t disappeared. Performative activism—the media claims to be progressive but still holds these same stereotypes.
For example, the show Modern Family appeared to be representative of different lifestyles, including Sofia Vergara’s character, representing Latina women. However, on a show created by two white men, Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd, I found it incredibly interesting how much they had to say about a culture they have no connection to. Vergara’s character was written as a “typical” Latina woman from a white point of view.
“Loudmouthed, Spicy, Poor, and Intellectually Inferior.”
No matter how progressive the media may seem, they continue to portray Women of Color through a lens of desire. These portrayals create insecurity, fear.
These portrayals go further than the media. The same images that justify how the world sees us are still intact and may even be more harmful.
As a Black Woman in America, I’ve grown up to hear the word Jezebel. A slur to describe those who look like me. This word—along with Saphirre and Mammy—was created to justify sexual exploitation of our bodies. Colorism dictates how we are perceived. Lighter-skinned Black actresses play the Jezebel-type roles—inhumane, promiscuous, sexually voracious. In comparison, darker-skinned Black actresses play the hypersexual Black Woman in pornographic media. The shade of your skin predetermines how people will see you. A hierarchy determining your future. Purity or sin. Innocence or temptation.
Angela Basset once said, “It’s about character, darling. I wasn’t going to be a prostitute on film. I couldn’t do that because it’s such a stereotype about Black Women and sexuality.”
Her refusal wasn’t solely a career choice, but resistance. She chose to be seen as the complex, interesting, smart woman she is. Not letting history confine her to the roles written for her, while also exposing the courage it takes for a Black Woman to reject the narrative written by the white man.
However, the stereotypes don’t stop here; they seep into classrooms, judging Black and Brown girls every move.
“Morris found that teachers trained their focus on condemning such comportment at the expense of guiding their academic progress—effectively disciplining Black Girls for perceived loud and unladylike behavior that challenged their authority. Others have similarly observed that Black Girls are under greater surveillance of their decorum than their white peers.”
Multiple studies confirm this pattern; Black and Brown Girls have the negative disproportionate effects of the school system. They have higher chances to be labeled in the classroom, suspended more, and disciplined for not following the white femininity standards.
The struggle begins early, and the harm never stops. If a Black or Brown girl speaks up or wears clothes that fit them, they are more likely to be called “too grown”. The world is labeling them before they know any better.
Bias isn’t an individual prejudice. This system of assumptions begins the moment a girl of Color walks into a room. It controls how she is treated—whether it’s by teachers, coworkers, or police officers. Every room analyzes her every move, determining if she’s a threat.
Childhood is the cost of this bias.
Black and Brown Girls are consistently told to shrink, to behave. They never did anything wrong; the world is just watching them—very meticulously— through a lens.
Girls of Color deserve the chance to grow up. Girls of Color deserve the same innocence and humanity as their white counterparts. They are rushed into adulthood by a bias that defines their “maturity” as “admiration”. Every time a girl of Color gets told, “You’re so mature for your age,” you have to ask if it is maturity or the world refusing to see her as a child.
Stripping Girls of Color of their innocence has never been a good thing. You are protecting a bias that was never meant to protect us.
