Adultification
How the In(Her)Voice Project Confronts The Adultification of Black Girls
A Georgetown University study found that Black girls routinely experience an adultification bias and perception from adults. The In(Her)Voice Project and our founder, Ber-Henda Williams, are addressing this and other problems faced by girls of color using mentorship, education, and support.
Our mission is to mentor and build the self-esteem of girls ages 8-18 in the Detroit area through the power of voice and choice - a mission that rampant adultification bias derails.
“Black girls in our community know how the adults around them perceive them,” says Williams. “We have a 16-year-old girl who should be focused on prom, homework, and her friends. Instead, she’s more worried about coming across as ‘the angry black woman’ for simply speaking out. She doesn’t see her white friends having those issues.”
According to the Georgetown University study, the adultification of Black girls signals that adults perceive them as needing less nurturing, less protection, less support, and less comfort while assuming that they are more independent and knowledgeable about adult topics, like sex, than white girls of the same age range.
This bias is the force behind examples we see every day in the media of Black girls receiving harsher treatment, enduring negative stereotypes, and generally getting less empathy from the adults in their lives.
According to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, CPEDV, the adultification of Black girls stems from the intersection of racism and sexism called “Misogynoir.” This misperception contributes to the fact that one in every four black girls will be sexually abused before they turn 18.
We aren’t having it.
“Black girls deserve to experience childhood. The adults around them, knowingly or unknowingly, are failing them and taking that right away,” Williams shares.
Between our programs, school engagements, events, podcasts, YouTube series, magazines, and more, Williams has made it her life’s work to dismantle the pressure to grow up that is put on too many young Black girls in our community. She does it by educating girls about their abilities to make decisions and how to use their voices, creating mentorship opportunities, and crafting career-building initiatives that girls lead.
We provide girls with paid work opportunities designed to stimulate creativity, self-esteem, confidence, and real-world skills. It also reminds them that their feelings matter, they are NOT adults, and they are worthy of anything they’d like to experience and achieve.
About In(Her)Voice Project
Founded in 2011, the In(Her)Voice Project’s mission is to support girls in tapping into their power to create community, discover their value and voice, find career paths, and change the world. The non-profit embodies a leadership development model serving adolescent girls (13-18) in metro Detroit to move through the process of girlhood. Its focus is to develop young women psychologically, socially, emotionally, and physically to become engaged and competent thriving citizens.