A few weeks ago, Entertainment Tonight used the phrase “looks all grown up” in a headline when referencing North wearing a black corset and pleated skirt with newly dyed blue hair. At face value, the language might seem harmless, but it’s yet another method of the adultification bias that young Black girls like North West face. According to a report from Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty, as early as age five, Black girls are more likely to be seen as older, more mature, and less in need of comfort, protection, or guidance than their peers.

When I was nine years old, I went to a CiCi’s Pizza with my best friend and her mom for lunch. The cashier stopped me because of the kids’ meal my friend’s mother had purchased for me. She asked if I had my birth certificate with me, and said I “didn’t look 10.” I remember feeling embarrassed as I watched my best friend’s mother call my mom to prove my age. They ultimately let me in with the kids’ meal price, but that moment never left me.

I was taller than most girls my age and had stopped wearing a training bra at age eight. I was forced to confront my body in ways my non-Black friends didn’t have to at such a young age. It was ingrained into me, and so many other young Black girls, that our developing bodies were the problem, not how the people around us reacted to them.

I spent most of my childhood hiding myself behind oversized jackets and hoodies — something North West wears a lot of, but those outfits are never talked about — because I was more developed. I never got the chance to find my own personal style growing up, and still, at 27, I sometimes sink back into the tween version of myself, worried that a low-cut top, which all my friends would wear without hesitation, is too revealing and will bring me unwarranted attention.