Dating Site Says…No Fatties
According to an article by the BBC, the dating site BeautifulPeople.com has dropped a number of its members as a result of holiday weight gain.
The members in question posted pictures of themselves having put on a couple of extra pounds as a result of a little too much roast turkey or ham. Cottoning onto said pictures, the site, which takes the aesthetics of its clientele very seriously, dropped them.
In defending his actions, site founder Robert Hintze said the following, “As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but…letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded.”
Now, one’s first instinct might be to be appalled at such ridiculously shallow behavior. But, here’s the thing: First, dating websites are allowed to reject applicants for certain reasons. For example, tales of people being rejected from eHarmony.com aren’t uncommon in the least.
Still, being rejected for being fat (or just having put on a couple of holiday-related pounds) seems a little insanely offensive. Until you realize that BeautifulPeople.com purports to be “the sexiest website in the world today,” and not only owns up to but embraces having physical attractiveness as the distinguishing characteristic of its members.
I mean, the top three bullets on the front page say this:
- Do looks matter to you, when it comes to selecting a partner?
- Do you want to guarantee your dates will always be beautiful?
- No more filtering through unattractive people on mainstream sites
Given that, what do you expect? Not only that, but the site is actually honoring its commitment to its members. It clearly targets a certain type of member, and frankly, as annoying as it is, eating one too many Christmas cakes threatens that. Insane.
