Growing Up Too "Fast": Black Girls' Sexual Development

Black girls experience early physical maturation, stereotype messaging, and lack of protection which heightens their HIV and sexually transmitted infection risk. A previous grounded theory study investigated the process of Becoming a Sexual Black Woman, consisting of three phases of Black female sexual development: Girl, Grown, and Woman, and the sociocultural conditions of Protection and Stereotype messaging among Black women. The current study extends previous findings by examining the sexual development of 20 Black girls aged 11 to 18 years old using grounded theory. The analysis consisted of open, axial, selective coding, and constant comparison of interviews with Black girls to expand the conceptual framework. Black girls identified new dimensions of the Girl and Grown phases: learning lessons, looking grown, and acting grown. Black girls also described new conditions of Protection including school as an unprotected space and masking as a protective strategy. Stereotype messaging regarding the Strong Black woman, Black Girl Magic, and colorism influenced participants' sexual developmental process. Findings led to a fully saturated conceptual framework to guide future sexual and reproductive health programing designed to better protect Black female sexual development throughout the life course.