Our country is under assault by a fundamentally flawed ideology that gender is a social construct and that gender differences don’t exist. Notwithstanding the darker consequences of what this may mean for future generations, does being pretty still matter?

Feminists treat the subject of physical beauty pejoratively and seem to relish attacking those women who believe it important to be well groomed and well dressed. But to deny that people don’t appreciate beauty or seek to capitalize on it is a classic leftist mistake.

Let’s be honest, people market and position themselves in the mating world and in the career world all of the time. If we want to be successful in our careers, we learn how to dress for success and project the type of image a prospective employer seeks, whether it’s competence, power or likability.

The dating world is no different. If we want to attract a mate with a particular set of virtues, values, status or physique, we inherently know that we must market ourselves in a particular way. In friendships and in social hierarchies, we unconsciously or consciously assume the roll of the empathizer, the confidante, the funny friend, the stylish friend, etc.

We all project an image to the outside world, and denying that beauty is objective isn’t a winning strategy for most feminists.Feminist can’t or won’t compete in the marketing game of life because they see it as unfair, irrelevant and degrading, but just because we don’t like or believe in something, doesn’t make it any less real. And facts can be funny things. According to MarketResearch.com, the beauty industry in the United States was expected to top $62 billion in 2016, so clearly people in 2017 still care about their appearance.

Millennials are particularly dismayed that there can only be one winner in a race. Their generation was taught that everyone is a winner and they lack the intellectual fortitude to understand that losing in life is common place and part of the human condition. We aren’t all born with the same set of natural talents or beauty, but in real life, there is no reward for just participating.

The reality is that attractive people have advantages that unattractive people do not. And it is unfair, which is why feminist can’t stand it. They don’t want equal opportunity, they want equal outcome. And beauty is something you were either born with or not. No one can take credit for natural beauty, or even youth.

Take 23-year-old Instagram star Gabby Epstein, who says she makes more money from a single post than working four days as a model. Her 1.8 million followers wouldn’t be following her travel and lifestyle account if she was a fat, unattractive traveler backpacking in ugly shoes and a fanny pack. Is it fair? Absolutely not! But I wouldn’t for a second blame her for making use of what she was born with.

And if beauty is unfair, the next best thing for a feminist to do is to declare all people beautiful, despite their weight, facial symmetry or overall appearance. But this doesn’t work because people know beauty when they see it.

Iris Apfel, the unexpected famous 90-something matron of style who became an instant icon after her documentary Iris airedon Netflix, said about her own self, “I’m not pretty and I’ll never be pretty. I have something much better. I have style.” Iris didn’t allow the fact that she was not pretty to cop out of the competition as so many of today’s feminists do.

Older generations were taught to make use of their God-given talents and to do the best with those physical attributes they were born with, which is one reason the beauty industry is so lucrative. We can’t all look like Kim Kardashian, but with a bit of makeup, a great hair stylist, and some time and attention, we can be our very best self with what we were born with. And it does matter.

If you can’t be pretty, you can still compete and win, just as Iris did. And GenXers know this, which is why they are masters at finding just the right angles when taking a selfie or using a program to apply filters to a photo. They grew up in a world that values images, which is why feminists who stubbornly insist that a woman’s appearance shouldn’t matter, ring hollow to those women who don’t identify with them.

It’s often hard to actually like die-hard feminists because of their stubborn and militant inclination to put their head in the sand and to pretend that beauty isn’t objective, when clearly it is. But like all other progressive left idealist, they believe facts can be manipulated to fit their own unique world view. So though I can’t always like them, I do feel sorry for them. By the time these young feminists age and, hopefully, become more wiser, they will have been left far behind in the mating and career world. Lonely old cat women are pathetic. Don’t be one.