The beauty myth is a set of beauty standards that prescribes how women should look and act and have negative mental effects of women. However, research on the beauty myth has often focused on white, college aged women. Using objectification theory, this study analyzed how the beauty myth affects the academic achievement of Latina adolescents. Mixed methods found that Latina adolescents with high levels of self-objectification have low academic performance compared to their peers. Conversely, Latinas with low levels of self-objectification were found to have high academic performance. Further, Latinas labeled as bilingual learners tended to have high levels of self-objectification, low academic performance, felt the most pressure to meet beauty standards compared to their peers, and used sexual evaluation methods to describe beauty. Students with high-academic performance used external measures to describe beauty and reported not feeling pressure to meet beauty standards. Overall, regardless of self-objectification levels, the majority of participants in this study were unlikely to raise their hand or ask for help in class, suggesting that adolescent Latina girls are afraid of using their voice in academic settings.
