Young Black girls are often over-sexualized in our communities. Cuties gives voices to the stories of young Black women. We are definitely confronted by grown men at age 12 and 14. Men used to try to get my friends and I to get in their cars. We made a decision that if they ever came close to us we would run and would never be afraid of how it would look to other people. Most people just don't want to think about Black girls having a sexuality or being seen in a sexualized way.

In 2003, the movie, Thirteen explored the oversexualization of young white girls. This film made it to the big screen and I never heard the same level of condemnation about that movie.

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