Love

Are You Out Of His League?

strange couple

There are just a few things that all of us can agree upon: 1. Taxes aren't that fun. 2. Healthcare is might pricey. And 3. There is something really unsettling about exceptionally good-looking people dating exceptionally unattractive people.

Sometimes, the circumstances are extenuating: he's rich or she wants to look hotter by comparison or he has a fetish or she lost a bet of some kind. The possibilities are endless. But that doesn't keep people from judging them based on looks alone. In fact, a veritable cottage industry (I don't even know what that means) has arisen based upon people's disbelief that SHE IS WITH HIM?

Some people havebeen trying to end this phenomenon, such as BeautifulPeople.com. But most of the websites dedicated to mismatched couples are more in the realm of holding the mirror up to society. Your HotChicksWithDbags.com, for instance, likes to show spiky-haired fellows with fake tans wearing Affliction t-shirts and flashing "the shocker" signal with nice-looking ladies who probably wouldn't object to being cast in a reality TV show. It's really a service to us all. Are You Hot Enough For This Dating Site?

But the new kid on the block is slightly more egalitarian. CanDoBetter.com allows users to post photos of couples and then vote on whom can do better just from the standpoint of looks. Surprisingly, users have voted that the chick is out of her league in a number of these couples.

On a somewhat related note, the spring film She's Out Of My League discussed the nature of leagues and looks ad nauseam. The film's overall thesis is that a relationship involving more than two points (out of 10) of differential cannot succeed.

Frankly, I'm not sure that leagues exist for any but the most terribly shallow of people. My theory is that most dudes are only OK in terms of looks, and that there would be far less coupling if people had to stay in their leagues. I've dated a few good-looking gals, and I still can't believe the plain men fetishes they had. Poll: Dating In The Dark: Do Looks Really Matter?

Do you think leagues exist? Have you ever dated "out of your league"? Have you ever told someone they could do better based on looks? My good friend Simone Grant believes that looks should be graded pass / fail; what do you think? 

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