An exclusive online dating service that attempts to weed out unattractive members, allowing only the beautiful through the door, is coming to Canada.
Prospective members of the BeautifulPeople Network submit a picture and profile, and other members of the opposite sex rate the applicant over a 72-hour period, deciding whether they're worthy of joining the coveted community.
The online service even goes so far as to advertise a ban on ugliness -- something the managing director says is more a reflection of reality than evidence of arrogance.
"If you're in a bar in a romantic situation and you're going to approach someone with a romantic inclination, you're going to approach someone you're attracted to, at least initially," Greg Hodge tells Canada AM. "There's certainly nothing shallow about that, it's human nature."
Hodge says he isn't trying to define beauty. Instead, he said the organizers believe in the old maxim 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' and as such they give the power to the people -- other approved members -- to decide who is allowed in.
Including Canada, the dating service now operates in 16 countries, and Hodge attributes the success to a simple formula.
"It plays on a clever combination of four things: beauty, love, sex and money. Advertisers use those four desires to sell us pretty much everything and Beautiful People plays on a clever combination of all of that," Hodge said.
Not everyone thinks the concept is so clever. Lisa Naylor counsels teens with body image issues and says the website is a step in the wrong direction.
"I think the message that it gives girls -- boys and girls, but particularly girls -- in the culture about appearance is quite damaging," Naylor told CTV News.
Jacqueline Levitin is a Simon Fraser University professor who teaches how women are portrayed in popular culture. She says the site is evidence that the feminist movement still has a long way to go.
"I don't think things have changed all that much," Levitin told CTV News. "I think we've done a lot of back-sliding."
Hodge admits the dating service usually provokes some negative reactions whenever it opens in a new market and he jokes he could soon need his own security detail.
But the bottom line, Hodge says, is that the online service simply makes it easier for people -- provided they pass the attractive test -- to meet that special someone.
"People want to be with someone they're attracted to, that was the initial premise of the creation of Beautiful People, remove that first hurdle," Hodge said.
"And once you do become a member of this coveted community, you have essentially the best little black book in the world."
With a report by CTV's Rob Brown in Vancouver
