A dating site, BeautifulPeople , is causing quite a stir. The site allows people to connect with the “beautiful people” in their area. According to the site, “beauty lies in the eyes of the voter,” and those who are accepted can connect with other people online in the hopes of finding love. Those who are rejected, however, are given harsh criticism from the site and a Beverly-Hills-based plastic surgeon.
After creating a profile, the user is rated within 48 hours of joining the site. The ratings range from “beautiful,” to “hmm, ok,” to “absolutely not.” According to Bravo , about 9 million people have been rejected from the app so far. When a user is rejected, they are told “exactly what is wrong with their photos/faces, and how and what they can fix with makeup or surgery.”
The managing director of the site, Greg Hodge, said that just one in 10 applicants is typically accepted. Hodge knows first hand — he had once been rejected from it himself. In a recent interview, Hodge says he had been off the site for about eight years. Then, when he tried to reenter, he was not voted back in. Though most people might leave well enough alone, Hodge had to know why he’d been rejected.
“It wasn’t good enough to just be told your application wasn’t successful. Like any break-up, you must know why.”
BeautifulPeople teamed up with Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Linda Li, MD. Li reviews all feedback given to the applicants prior to sending. When aspiring members pay $45 to the site, they are told what they can do to “improve their aesthetic.” When Hodge came to Li to find out why he’d been rejected, she recommended he get Botox, increase the volume in his temples with Treat Sculptra, and to make himself appear younger, Li suggested laser genesis treatment.
When asked what some of the most common “flaws” applicants are told about? Hodge listed, “overweight, moody facial expression, bad hair, bags under eyes, larger than average facial features, and visible paunches.” He also noted that people may be rejected if the quality of their photo is lacking.
This isn’t the first time the site has been in the news. In 2015, it was reported that BeautifulPeople purged 3,000 applicants for “letting themselves go,” according to The Daily Dot .
Despite being rejected once himself, Hodge said that the premise of the site is “clever because it gives you an accurate representation of beauty.”
“Beauty is subjective, so by democratizing it, you get an honest perception,” said Hodge.
