British people among world's ugliest, according to BeautifulPeople.com

[MOBIUS]

Now I understand why none of the major flames in my life have been British (2xNZ, 1 Irish, 1US - ongoing), not that it had ever occurred to me to think about it before...

[Al B. Sure!]

Well its interesting you say that. During the Ice Age it was the more meatier, or volumptuous people, or broader people who were seen as genetically healthy and thus pure examples of people being able to survive. Back then, bigger was sexy. And that's why those traits for carrying extra fluids or calories has been passed down. Its just due to agriculture and industrialization that this has caused there to be too many calories, leading to obesity, and so the image of what was once beautiful in the past, is now considered ugly by some. In a way its all about how healthy the body is. An example is the carvings of Venus of Willendorfs, the very volumptuous breasts and buttocks and genitalia of these broad women being seen as a symbol of health and fertility.

There are too many obvious disadvantages of obesity (not to mention, difficulty in even getting obese with such a lifestyle), particularly for males in a hunter-gatherer society, for this interpretation to be true. I think the "primitives liked 'em fat" theory is a combination of 19th century prejudice against primitives combined with modern revisionism from the 'fat is beautiful' crowd.

It's certainly possible that primitive men liked the exaggerated features represented in such Venuses with the logic of big breasts and a big butt are great and the bigger the better. The fact that obese people would have been so incredibly rare (and extremely counter-productive) in hunter-gatherer societies also would have given them some appeal. It's different from the norm and a tribe with fat women is a tribe with plenty... It's unlikely however that any pre-agricultural society would have generated such a food surplus to sustain such women, however.

However, being fat has way too many obvious deleterious effects on survival in a hunter-gatherer society that it could never have been beneficial from a survival standpoint. As I just said, the fact that it confers so many disadvantages might have been why it was appealing.

Just look at any pictures of modern hunter-gatherers and you get an idea of just how our ancient ancestors looked and how that lifestyle discourages obesity.

[Al B. Sure!]

Now I understand why none of the major flames in my life have been British (2xNZ, 1 Irish, 1US - ongoing), not that it had ever occurred to me to think about it before...

Catherine Zeta Jones looks nice.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Although in Australia, we also are a lot more about kicking back and relaxing, and having a few drinks in the pub after work.

Are you under the impression that British people, after a hard day's work, invade somebody?

[Al B. Sure!]

Are you under the impression that British people, after a hard day's work, invade somebody?

No. When you guys invaded, you usually just sent a few officers and some clerks, took a side in a local conflict, organized them into colonial armies, and secured your economic interests. It didn't take many British people.

[Dinner]

They say 80% of people get rejected. I applied just to see how poorly I'd do.

[dannubis]

Now I understand why none of the major flames in my life have been British (2xNZ, 1 Irish, 1US - ongoing), not that it had ever occurred to me to think about it before...

Irish ladies (Generally speaking that is)

[Al B. Sure!]

They say 80% of people get rejected. I applied just to see how poorly I'd do.

Don't they base it all on a single picture, though? Anyone can look good in a single, perfect, lucky picture.

Since you applied, can you see people's profiles? Out of curiosity, just how elite are we talking here? Is everyone on that site out of an Abercrombie ad?

[dannubis]

Alpie, I am sure they are out of your league...

[Dinner]

You can submit multiple pictures though it seems like most people only submit one (judging by the 10 "featured profiles" I can see). Right now there is a 48 hour application period where you can't see other people's profiles or use the site while current members vote on your application. I suspect there are a ton of extremely vain and shallow people there but I could be wrong.

[Al B. Sure!]

Alpie, I am sure they are out of your league...

My looks are not my problem

It's everything else

[Dinner]

The funny thing is virtually everyone gets their application turned down, during the application process you can't do anything on their site (or even view profiles), yet they still want you to pay for the membership fee for the site.

[Al B. Sure!]

The funny thing is virtually everyone gets their application turned down, during the application process you can't do anything on their site (or even view profiles), yet they still want you to pay for the membership fee for the site.

Any dating site that so excludes so many people is self-defeating for a dating site. Strange setup.

[Dinner]

They're selling exclusivity. It's the Gray Poupon effect.

[VetLegion]

This could also be a result of selection bias, overconfidence, stuff like that. If for
some reason only Norwegians who are dead certain that they are beautiful apply,
while random Brits apply, it could skew the stats.