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AJC.com > Living > Blog > Archives > 2007 > June > 01
Friday, June 1, 2007
Survival of the hottest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As if there weren’t enough online dating options out there, from Match.com to eHarmony (which, incidentally, was just sued for refusing to allow gay and lesbian members) to even Datemypet.com (which, despite the misleading title, is actually for pet OWNERS who want to date EACH OTHER)…
Now there’s HotEnough.org. In order to gain membership to this site, you have to submit a picture and … well, let me let the site do the rest of the explaining of their very complicated process. 1. New members (registrants) must submit three photos of themselves at signup. These photos must include one full body shot. Only one professional photo will be allowed. 2. Submitted photos will be sent to our site administrators where they will be judged based upon whether the registrant appears well-kept and in shape. 3. If the registrant passes the assessment, he or she will be granted prospective member status. 4. Prospective members photos are then forwarded to Hotenough’s voting area where active members will cast their votes. 5. Once a prospective member receives 25 votes, he or she must maintain a score of eight or above to become an active member.
The theory behind this “survival of the hottest”? To make sure gorgeous people date other gorgeous people, of course. It would certainly be awful if they had to waste their time with the — gasp — average-looking masses. As the Web site puts it, “Attractive, fit singles deserve an above average dating pool and the leading online dating sites just don’t meet that standard.”
As if dating wasn’t demoralizing enough…now you can be told you aren’t hot enough to pay for the privilege for paying for this dating Web site!
For me, though, this concept just doesn’t work. The reason is the standards they use to judge the potential dates. Their definition of “attractive” intrinsically assumes that the prospect is attractive to the masses — hence, the peer ratings as a key criterion. For someone like me who likes unconventional-looking men and runs from anyone too preppy or “Ken doll” like, this could be a problem. And then there’s “fit” — maybe I’m weird, but bulging muscles scare me, and thin can be a turnoff! As my friend put it, “I need a guy whose T-shirt I can put on and have it be too big for me.”
Of all the men I’ve dated, I wouldn’t necessarily call any of them conventionally attractive, or rate them above, say, the necessary 8 that these people have to average. I mean, I like the idea of general cleanliness and hygiene and all, but I think I like a more unusual appeal.
How about you? Do you prefer to date “the industry standard” of beauty and fitness, or do you have some quirky tastes of your own?
How attractive would you rate your current and past significant others? Would they make the cut on HotEnough? Would YOU, in your opinion?
Is it true that attractive, fit people deserve to date other attractive people?
Would you rather date someone more or less attractive than yourself? Why?
Permalink | Comments (96) | Categories: Dating
