Getting taken seriously when you look young...

In this video, I discuss how to increase your chances of getting taken seriously when you look young.

Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
2:26 1) Be confident in your competence
4:23 2) Address concerns about your age
6:08 3) Ways to look more mature
8:15 4) Practice assertiveness
8:44 5) Choose an archetype
11:16 6) Get some life experience
12:54 7) Reframe the way you think about aging

The thoughts expressed in this video are my own personal opinion and do not reflect the opinion of any institution I am involved with.

The contents of this video are for educational and entertainment purposes only. They are not meant to substitute seeking professional therapy.

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[AnaPsychology]

I wanted to add another sad anecdote about this topic. The other day I was talking to a friend who is also a psychology student, and she mentioned that her professor said she would be assumed incompetent based on her high-pitched voice. We had a discussion about how no one would ever tell a man to change his voice in order to be taken seriously, and the implications around that.

[Oridginale]

When you’re an adult but look like a teenager, people call you “sweetie” instead of sir/ma’am. It’s annoying.

[scapybara]

Ah finally someone understands the struggle..

[nicoleonfeels]

People have been thinking I’m 16 for the past decade now...

[dansad]

People always talk to me as if I'm a child, even when they find out I'm 21! It's so frustrating. Also being short doesn't help.

[HezzahVee]

My boss literally called me a baby the other day...I'm 27. I have a masters. I've lived in two different countries by myself. I've had over 30 jobs in my lifetime. And I was still excluded from a meeting today even though I was the one who raised an issue that needed to be discussed. The only reason I can think of is because I'm young and they don't value my opinion and would rather speak with the older employees (all of them are older than me). I've just never experienced discrimination in such a blatant way before. It's left me feeling angry and helpless.

[phanfamily]

I’m a dental hygienist in my 30’s and I still have patients tell me that I belong in high school and not working at a dental office or they don’t feel comfortable with me cleaning their teeth when I look like a little kid! Wish I watched this video 10 years ago because it would’ve saved me years of headache! I constantly try to do everything to look older!

[createinspireco]

Same struggles 👋I've been told I look young my entire life and "seemed" inexperienced even though I'm in my late twenties, and look 17 years old, but I ain't mad about it. I've also been told that because I'm not a married woman and childless, that I don't have experience in life in general 😂Like what....hate when people project their insecurities onto other people.

[sambryner]

I've been struggling with this for a long time. I absolutely do not look like I'm 29. And you really have to have self-confidence that comes from within you instead of it being reinforced by others, because when you live your whole life with other people being skeptical about you that takes a toll.

[raven-knlv]

So true. I look younger than my age and I can definitely see the difference how people treat me vs how they treat my friends who naturally look their age or older.
They treat me like a kid. So I usually smile less just to get taken seriously. Uhg

[matirajput]

Omg this is so helpful. I'm so tired of people thinking that I'm 14 and then getting super shocked to know that I'm actually way older.

[MKSpeakz]

THIS. I’m 25 and people always think I’m still in high school 😑 it’s so bittersweet, I love that I look youthful but I hate that people don’t take me seriously and so I end up having to be forceful with it and I don’t want to do that 😞

[Anna-lvmm]

I've often been called a "baby face" and don't get me wrong - I am only turning 20. I went through parentification as a child, hence I've always been viewed paradoxically. I've realized that's the root cause of my deep need to interact solely with people that are older than me and to be viewed as an "intelligent adult". The fact that I get triggered by being called young and innocent looking (and sometimes even feeling disgust towards people that are my age or younger) isn't just about being pissed off for not being taken seriously because I'm a woman. It's actually a fairly naive and child-like complex where one internally still wants to get on their parents' level. We shouldn't deny that we're still inexperienced and naive but to explore ourselves while we're still very high in openess. It's okay. As you kind of said, in a way we "change" and mature at an insane pace. That's called potential and plasticity and we should own it. Suffocating femininity and youth for status is a sad thing.

[KO-DM]

A reasonable factor I considered is *how* I speak and *the way* I say something. I'll be 30 next year but recognize I look 18; a variety of people initially approach me as the latter, but the depth of my voice, expressions, and the pace at which I speak has worked in my favor and usually forces people to pause and reconsider that I'm older than they assumed.

[imjustsayin]

Yooo that story with your mom being pregnant I had to pause the video 😂😂😂 the nerve of some people astonishes me

[pacificpearl]

Hahaha I’m 28 now and I’ve been dealing with this since I was 14. I somehow still look somewhere between 16-21 a decade later. I’ve grown in my confidence; however, I’ve noticed new hires at work glare at me for giving them constructive criticism and they have often thought that I’m really young, full of myself and bossy. They often think, “Who is this little person (I’m also short unfortunately and appear even tinier in scrubs that look too big on me) trying to tell me what to do?” Lol but these new hires haven’t given other group leads this problem or have seen them in this light, even though all the group leads within the center I work for are younger than I am and have come off more rude than I have because I’m also by default extremely polite and “too nice” sometimes. Like LOL. Your story gives me hope but also terrifies me because I ultimately want to go back to pursue a masters in counseling, and I’m hoping I look at least like a full grown woman by the time I get around to actually practicing! My coworker the other day made I comment saying that I look like a baby, like a child, and all my insecurities started resurfacing again. Lol

[sandyr.]

I'm about to be 26 and I got called out by a bunch of 8th graders and teachers claiming I looked like "a little 7th grader" smh 😤

[DefiningCute]

I felt this I’m 24 and it took effort to get my position were I’m surrounded by older white men later 30’s to 60. Also being a person of color some of their comments can be really off putting.

[matirajput]

In drama school we learnt about energies. Younger people, especially children tend to orient their energy towards the front. They're more expressive with their face and hands. As opposed to older people who orient their energy towards their back because they've gained experience and with age their back becomes heavier. I hope this helps.

[gorgondrifter]

Has happened to me my whole life. I've always really looked young for age. Get condescended to by people younger than me and others all the time.