Being "beautiful" makes you stand out and you'd be surprised how far you can get just by, "looking the part". Job hunting for example. If you are in the final selection then, believe me, they will remember the good-looking one.
And not all natural blondes are bimbos. I am reasonably intelligent, I went to University to study for a professional medical qualification. I am self-confident, I have no problem using my common sense and I have a practical and inquiring mind. But I have to say that being an attractive woman has made things easier - I rarely get ignored.
That's not to say I didn't have problems when I was younger. You can attract the wrong sort of attention, and from women too, but that is something you learn to deal with. And to be honest I still get some of that, just not so much.
My father, on the other hand, has quite a few friends who never left academia, and who have never washed their own clothes or cooked a meal in their entire lives, and I doubt they would know how. They are also so deadly dull. And there's often a fine line between being highly intelligent and barking.
I get my looks from my mother and I'm grateful my father isn't too much of an egghead. Unfortunately, my sister is barking mad.