Does beauty afford privilege?

Asked by Judi (40025) September 13th, 2013 from iPhone

I have an older sister who is stunning. For the first 20+ years of my life I lived in her shadow. I was the 5th of 6 children so I was constantly compared to her.
In my 20’s I moved away and finally realized I wasn’t ugly, I just wasn’t her.
Now in our 50’s we were on vacation together and talking about our childhood and I said that the best thing that happened to my self esteem was to move out of her shadow. She felt guilty for the way I felt growing up and I joked that it wasn’t her fault. She couldn’t help being beautiful. Somehow the subject came up that beauty opens doors and affords privilege. She flat out denied it. That night we were at the pool and all the strangers directed their conversation to her. She didn’t notice.
The next day we were at the grocery store and a little old lady made a point of telling her how beautiful she was. She went on and on.
My sister maintains that it has made it harder for her to get jobs and be taken seriously.
I would just like her to acknowledge that it gives her an advantage.
Maybe I’m just venting, but what do you think? Do the beautiful people get all the breaks?