There is an online dating site for everyone: the pot-lovers, the cat-lovers, the God-lovers … and now there’s one for the self-lovers. Thank goodness! Now beautiful people who simply cannot be bothered with the disgusting, hideous trolls who use typical dating sites have their own niche site. BeautifulPeople.com is “an exclusively beautiful community,” described as “an elite online club, where every member works the door.”

Here’s how it works: everyone is welcome to sign up to become a member, but once you have submitted your picture, the beautiful members of the site will vote on whether or not you are beautiful enough to join. According to the site, “It may not be politically correct to say so – but it is honest.”

While you wait for judgment day, you can update your profile. While most online dating sites ask questions about your interests, hobbies, and what you want in a mate, BP doesn’t bother. They ask for a job description, and then ask what you look like. Hair color. Eye color. Height. Weight. Wow … weight?! They aren’t playing around. You must choose from a pull-down menu that has weight broken down into four pound increments. Is it really necessary to set a whole category for 128-132? You are also expected to select “body type.” The site offers “cuddly” and “ample” as options, but really, who’s selecting that on a site that just made you share your weight with future dates?

Fun fact: you can select what you are looking for. “Love,” “Fun and Flirting,” or “Business Networking.” You also have to select a status. “Single” is to be expected. “Married” was a bit of a surprise.

If a member is not voted in, he or she is welcome to submit “a better profile picture and more interesting profile text.” Since there’s actually no profile text, we’re guessing you should just Photoshop yourself hot.

The site claims it’s not shallow, that a desire for a physically attractive partner is simply human nature. And that’s true. One of people’s biggest complaints with online dating is that people lie in their pictures. This site seems to solve that problem.

Well, it’s trying to solve that problem. Recently, BP made headlines for kicking off 5,000 of its members for not staying true to their profile pictures. Apparently, people gained weight over the holidays, and that could bump them up to the next four-pound weight category. Uh-oh! The London Telegraph quoted the site’s founder as saying, “As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld. Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded.”

The fatties were sent an e-mail asking them to re-apply when they were back to looking their best. They were also sent details on boot camp classes.

Yep … they’re just being honest.

If the site works, it may be because the members are meeting matches not because they find someone equally beautiful; they may just be thrilled to find someone equally shallow. While it’s true that looks play a big role in dating, anyone with the cojones to say that up front is looking for a very specific kind of partner.

Ideally, there would be no need for this site, because people would be comfortable enough to upload – on regular dating sites – pictures that actually represent themselves. We don’t need to crop photos to trick people into going out with us so we can only disappoint them, and we don’t need to hoard all the hotties in one site and shun the fat masses to another. So you gained a few pounds? Own it! And if you are beautiful, respond to that “cuddly” person’s email, even if they’ve moved above of the four-pound range you’re most comfortable with. We can be honest too: when you do meet the mate of your dreams, they’re going to gain four pounds at some point. And you won’t care.

Related posts:

• Shorter, Fatter, Balder: Men’s misleading online profiles
• How to Represent Yourself Honestly Online
• 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Picking Your Online Dating Profile Picture