18-year-old refuses to invite her friend to her birthday party because she's unattractive: 'It would be embarrassing to invite someone like that.'

Her friend needs to make new friends.

Few people are willing to admit they judge others by their appearance. It's obviously not socially acceptable to openly call somebody "ugly" or claim you would never associate with them because they aren't as good-looking as you are. One of my friends is extremely willing and eager to call certain people "chopped" (Gen Z slang for ugly), and a lot of people judge them for this brazen judgment. While their delivery leaves a little to be desired, they claim they are trying to prove that being attractive isn't the most crucial thing in the world, and that a woman being "chopped" doesn't mean that she isn't brilliant, valuable, or kind. Maybe they need to leave that way of talking about people in 2025, but I highly doubt that they will.

While people don't always admit they judge others by appearance, their behavior betrays it. The public at large is much more willing to accept strange, off-putting behavior from an attractive person than from an unattractive one. They are less likely to talk to, or even smile at, someone who doesn't meet their standard of attractiveness, because they fear such kindness might elicit unwanted advances. I don't mean to sound like an incel, but it is easy to fall down the rabbit hole of negativity when you really think about how much appearance shapes someone's everyday life. It's no fun to know that someone thinks less of you because of factors you cannot control.