North West celebrated Christmas with her mom, Kim Kardashian, and the adorable 11-year-old got up to some typical pre-teen fun: lip-syncing and dancing her heart out to some holiday tunes on TikTok.
In a series of clips filmed during the Kardashian’s pared-down Christmas Eve party, North West wore a mini-skirt, knee-high boots, and a black cropped blazer over a white strapless corset as she and her mom sang along to “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande and Wham’s holiday favorite “Last Christmas.” For her part, Kim held back on the dancing due to a broken foot.
After the flood of criticism recently directed at Blue Ivy Carter for dressing “too provocatively,” you’d expect North West to be bracing for controversy over her “mature” outfit choice. But the biggest controversy is why there has been such a double standard between the two celebrity offspring, who are just a year apart in age.
“Had Blue Ivy worn this, aunties would’ve been ranting on Twitter comparing themselves to her with photos of them from 30 years ago,” wrote one person on X. Later adding, “Literally. Would’ve been in several newspapers and blogs already with comments of grown adults dragging her.”
Others agreed, “Aww she’s so cute! But yes, the aunties be doing too much when it comes to Miss Blue Ivy. I think it’s jealousy, honestly.”
“I really swear, if it was Blue Ivy, the internet would be on fire with negative comments about the little girl,” another stated.
A fourth person provided additional reasoning, stating, “It’s actually even worse than that. They go after Blue because she’s the first born of a legend who’s ‘wifey material.’ They don’t go after North because she’s the first born of a woman that got famous for a sex tape and they’re actually ‘waiting’…. for North. What we’re recognizing as hypocrisy is actually far more predatory. They expect it from North. Protect both these girls. This planet is disgusting.”
“That outfit is too much for a 11 year old. People tore Blue Ivy to shreds. Just sayin’,” another person wrote.
“Everybody was JUST killing Beyonce and Blue for her GOWN at the Mufasa Movie Premiere….the double standard is weird,” noted one astute commenter.
While many raced to Blue Ivy’s defense, there were also fans who justified North West’s outfit choice.
“She’s wearing a short, perfectly ok, this is how we expect young teens to dress, and she’s not wearing makeup,” one X user stated. “This look is more appropriate for a young girl in my book. The makeup and the boos propped up on Beyonce’s daughter was way too much for a 12 year old. There is no comparison.”
“there’s literally nothing wrong with her outfit. she looks like a young pre teen girl and is dressed accordingly. y’all so weird,” said another X user.
A third person pointed out the perceived differences between the 11 and 12-year-old’s outfits, stating, “From a woman who is a whooo… North is wearing really decent compared to that ‘worldwide goddess mother of yours’ making a girl pull up a cleavage foh. young girls wear minis all the time and everywhere in the world but young girls don’t show up cleavages.”
Blue has had a banner year, most recently making her feature film debut as the voice of Kiara in Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King.” The problem is attention was hyper-focused on the 12-year-old’s red-carpet look instead of her actual talent. In December, the haters came out of the woodwork over her gilded Christian Siriano ballgown for the film’s debut. The strapless dress had a wrap-around bodice with a full princess skirt and elegant train, yet critics slammed it as too provocative and “wildly inappropriate,” with one going so far as to say it was giving “OnlyFans” vibes. One tweet with over 25 million views accused Beyoncé and Jay-Z of “oversexualizing” Blue by letting her wear a gown and makeup on the red carpet to celebrate her incredible achievement.
This came not too long after Blue was targeted for her glow-up at the 66th Grammy Awards, where Jay-Z was honored with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. Wearing a Vivienne Westwood Couture princess gown, the preteen was radiant and beaming with pride for her dad. Unfortunately, she faced an onslaught of criticism from online trolls for showing cleavage and looking “too mature.”
“I refuse to join the blue ivy discourse because y’all are selective af lol nobody says s**t about north west. And this has everything to do with the adultification of young black girls,” a person stated on X, referencing an unfortunate phenomenon. A study from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality found that adults perceive Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like, starting as early as 5-9 years old. Adultification bias happens too often, and social media seems to make it even worse.
Fans are increasingly tired of the unhelpful comments and are telling critics to take a seat. As one X user put it, “Tbh everyone should sthu and not speak on what either girl wear.”
