I’d say yes and no. Obviously it really can help in day to day interactions, work, when you need something from someone etc. However it can be a terrible hindrance. Some people will be hostile (“arrogant bitch”) and people will dismissed your achievements (“well we both know why SHE got the job”). There’ll be a lot of unwanted attention to deal with. I’m not sure I’d call it a privilege

I’m super new to it but it did get me 20% on my latest car repairs and some other benefits like that. And the reason I get treated this way is soooo transparent as someone who just recently transitioned.

I don’t think I’ve had many negatives yet, except that it’s kinda hard for me to know my friends’ intentions when they call me pretty. Already had one friendship blow up over it (she wanted more than I was willing to give).

Overall yes. People generally treat those who are traditionally attractive better than those who aren’t. Also, the same attractive people live in a different reality due to their perspective being shaped by their more positive treatment.

Yes. And no.

The halo effect is real. Pretty people get given opportunities regular and ugly folk don’t get, and on top of that are forgiven what they do far more often than regular old folk do.

But the thing is that pretty people don’t stay pretty. Depending on how much they’re willing to spend to continue to be perceived as pretty, their looks run out sooner or later. And when (not if!) they do, these same pretty people coasting on the halo effect wind up crashing rather hard.

one the one hand, being pretty (or conventionally attractive) comes with benefits - people are nice, opportunities open to you, life is easier

Here’s an example:

The research team was surprised to find that, in fact, physical attractiveness was a strong and persistent predictor for both job outcomes and research success.

https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/04/attractiveness-career-success-economics/

on the other hand, you are given much more attention (which can be stressful) and it’s harder to know people’s intentions are, and you are more likely to be targeted and preyed upon

I think there’s this narrative sometimes that being unpretty makes you invisible, which is good because that keeps more creepy men away.

I’m going to respond to that from personal experience by saying being unattractive didn’t prevent men from doing things I didn’t consent to in my childhood and teen years. It doesn’t stop drunk guys from saying creepy things to me in bars, and it didn’t stop the unwanted hookup requests from people who see me as desparate or an easy target due to my looks. I think predators and pickup artists don’t differentiate looks. They see people they think they can easily manipulate and choose those people.

It does seem like pretty women get too much male attention, occasionally positive but mostly negative, and unattrative women sometimes exclusively get the creeps with ulterior motives.

Yes and no. I can’t relate to all the discussions about men being sexually inappropriate because I’m basically invisible to them. Which is obviously great that I haven’t been harassed and is pretty freeing now that I have zero interest in sex/romance.

But it is frustrating to hear anyone talk about women as if we all experience the same thing. Men do it when they say “women can get anything they want just cuz they have boobz.” Women do it when they say “yes ALL women.” And it was upsetting when I wanted to find a partner.

Being on the outside, I’ve only witnessed the downside of being pretty, when walking with attractive friends and random dudes cat call them.

Then there’s the whole thing where, statistically, attractive people are more likely to be selected for jobs or be considered innocent of crimes. You don’t know how you might have been treated differently in any given situation based on your looks.

Pretty is a double-edged sword. Yeah I think there can be some advantages, but also sometimes you don’t want the advantages and then you’re stuck either accepting them or being rude when someone thinks they’re just trying to be nice to you. So you kinda go along to get along.

I experience life differently if I’m wearing makeup and contacts vs no makeup with glasses. When I wear makeup I can be really beautiful, and without, I can look kind of mousy, especially due to the glasses. And the difference in treatment is real, but I actually prefer the invisibility I get without makeup. With makeup, men are more chatty and ‘helpful’. They hold the door, they usher me in front of them if I’m getting in line at the store. Especially older men (60s+), so this might be generational to some extent. Men my age and younger men aren’t usually like this and I really appreciate that.

I know these are small examples but larger ones exist too - for example, I’ve read more conventionally attractive people have a better chance of getting hired and/or better pay. Which sucks if you’re not pretty, and also sucks if you are pretty and you wonder if (or people act like) you got your job because of your looks. And then part of me wonders if to some degree it’s attributable to the higher confidence that pretty people tend to project.

Sorry if these thoughts are jumbled, I just woke up. But this is an interesting subject!