Ava is a product of her environment...if your Mum is all about being beautiful, with the emphasis on surface, how could you be anything but obsessed with being 'beautiful'?
The difference is how it manifests itself- if you're a middle aged woman you spend a fortune on skincare and botox because beauty has 'empowered'/compelled you to stave off being a hag (but you can't be sexy because you're - eugh - old), and if you're a young woman being beautiful means Being Sexy, and being sexy is judged by the patriarchy, so get on your knees with your arse in the air, because looking fuckable is what society tells you is beautiful.
And that's why 'beauty' is neither empowering nor feminist.