I like reminding Ayn Rand fans that Dagny is literally a woman who was born wealthy and beautiful having sex with powerful men until she gets to the top one. She didn't earn her wealth, and she just so happened to be beautiful. How would the book have been different if Dagny were not conventionally beautiful? Would she be accepted into the club? I bet not. When viewed through this lens, the book is ridiculously hypocritical. Dagny gets to join the elite because she was born elite and because she is beautiful. But fans of Atlas Shrugged like to overlook that very important aspect. There definitely seems to be an ableist, racist notion at play here...some people are just "born better" than other people type of idea, and they are also white and beautiful.

Some people will say Dagny being beautiful is not the point, but come on. We all know it's not a coincidence that she's very attractive and able to pull all these powerful men.