Letter
26/08/2024
Did you know that Adultification Bias is when adults perceive children from ethnic minority backgrounds as being older or more mature than they are?
Particularly with Black girls, who are often forced to bear the brunt of this as they navigate misogynoir (where sexism meets racism), meaning that their mistreatment is more likely to be overlooked.
Who does Adultification Bias impact the most?
For the first time— data showing that adults view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers...
They results were:
• Black girls need less nurturing
• Black girls need less protection
• Black girls need to be supported less
• Black girls need to be comforted less
• Black girls are more independent
• Black girls know more about adult topics
• Black girls know more about sex
These results suggested that Black girls are viewed as more adult than their white peers at almost all stages of childhood, beginning most significantly at the age of 5, peaking during the ages of 10 to 14, and continuing during the ages of 15 to 19.
In essence, adults appear to place distinct views and expectations on Black girls that characterize them as developmentally older than their white peers, especially in mid-childhood and early adolescence, critical periods for healthy identity development.
Georgetown University (2017)