A consumer watch story concerning a Web site that rates people’s attractiveness on a scale from one to 10 made big news on CBS 11’s Web site Wednesday. HotEnough.org was created and is maintained by Jason Pellegrino and his business partner who said that online dating services do not draw an attractive enough crowd to please a younger audience.
America needs to own up to the idea that relationships are not based solely on attractiveness, they are based on overall compatibility.
Prospective members for the site must submit pictures of themselves, including one full-body shot and be rated an eight or higher in order to be a member on the Web site and then they are charged $9.95 per month to talk to other members.
Other dating sites charge much more than that to become a member, but the services people receive are extremely more in-depth. They get personality profiles, they are matched by the coordinator’s of the Web site with other people who are deemed compatible and so on.
Everyone must make a decision as to whether they agree or don’t agree with online dating, but this is taking that decision to an extreme by only allowing attractive people to be members. It is degrading.
“People can say that the site is shallow, they can say it’s superficial, but I think we’re all a bit superficial when it comes to dating,” Pellegrino said, in a March 21 AP article.
Pellegrino couldn’t be more wrong. Sure, we all care what the person we are dating looks like, but does that mean that we should base our relationships on looks alone like this site is asking?
No, because as humans, we have emotions – emotions that mean more than relationships based on attractiveness alone.
Jeanette Ponder is an online blogger who thought it would make a great story to be a member of the site, so she submitted photos. She considers herself an eight or a nine on the hottness scale.
She got rated a 5.7 and says, even though it wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously, it still hurt. But she reasoned: “You cannot make a relationship by being arm candy.”
Ponder has the right idea, and we need to learn from her experience. People can submit pictures to a Web site like HotEnough.org, convincing themselves that they will not care what the outcome is.
The reality of the situation is, we all have feelings. If we are pronounced “not hott enough” for this site, what will happen to our self-image and self-esteem? The liklihood of them being severely damaged is high.
Everyone, regardless of age and relationship status, can learn something from this. Relationships cannot be based on superficial ideals. They cannot be based on immoral feelings and/or actions and certainly cannot be solely based on looks.
It is a fact that most people do consider other people’s looks when searching for a boyfriend or girlfriend, and that is not detrimental as long as it is not the No. 1 priority.
When we can all start understanding that God made us perfectly for someone else, it will be easier to let go of all the standards society has set for our relationships. It will not be easy, but if the process of finding a suitable partner was based more solidly on personality and compatibility, it is certain that the dating arena would be much more pleasant.
Marissa Warms is a junior advertising/public relations major from Irving. Her column appears Fridays.
