You're So Vain (You Probably Think This Post is About You)

I have a confession to make. I am sort of obsessed with the website "hotornot.com". It's not an extreme case, but enough to make me further question my sanity.

If you don't know, hotornot.com is a website where people rate the physical attractiveness of others on a 1-10 scale (1 being the lowest in attractiveness while 10 being the highest). Anyone who wants to can upload their own photo and get a "hotness" score of their own, which is subject to change with the amount of votes cast. When I first read about it, I thought it was quite clever. Everyone at some point in their lives has wondered about the magnitude of their own looks, wanted to know where they place on the physical beauty totem pole, if you will. Now that I have become well acquainted with the site, I realize that the system itself has many perks and flaws. On one hand, one's physical attractiveness (or lack thereof) is, in a way, verified. On the other hand, the ratings themselves are subjective, opening the doors for malice and bias.

I once knew a girl who, whenever she went on the site, automatically rated any girl as a 1. Even if a picture of Charlize Theron popped up, she would have given her a 1 as well. When I think about this, it makes me wonder just how accurate the scores are. I can only speak for myself when I say that I honestly try to give objective ratings of people whenever I cast them. Giving girls automatic ratings of 1 out of spite is not my style, but if I feel that a 1 is truly needed (*I haven't done this yet. I can't imagine what a person would have to look like in order to warrant a score of 1. Perhaps Chewbacca?), I will give it.

Having received my own hotness score, I couldn't help but think about how important good looks are in our society. If people are willing to subject themselves to this kind of evaluation, myself included, then it must be pretty valuable. Are we living in a world were we are all participants in an unspoken beauty pageant? And, if so, I wonder what state I am (maybe Virginia? I like Virginia!).

What do you think about this my faithful readers? Is the above true? Are we constantly being evaluated, and evaluating each other's looks? And, just for kicks and giggles, what physical attributes do you find to be the most attractive?

PS: If you want, you can follow the link below and find out your own attractiveness rating.

http://www.hotornot.com/