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"Have you been to the motor vehicle bureau?" Jerry asks to prove his point. "It's a leper colony there."
Internet entrepreneur Allena Brown doesn't go that far, but she bumped into enough undatables online - including the guy wearing flannel and holding an ax - that she decided to start up an Internet match service that weeds out the "undesirables.""I know how that probably sounds," says Brown, 37, whose Web site, Beautiful People Arizona (beautifulpeopleaz.com), refuses membership to any applicant whose photo isn't up to snuff.
"That's the way it is in life, anyway," she continues. "You want to go out with Cindy Crawford, but she says no."
Brown started the business last year, charging $9.99 a month for access to other members' pictures and profiles. A judging panel composed of staffers decided on which new applicants to accept.
It's not the first site to reject love-seekers based on attractiveness. There's an international versionwhere members can browse the profiles of hotties all over the world, but Brown was interested in a more realistic dating service focusing on her home state.
"It's not just for the superhot," she says. "It's for people who put their best foot forward with their photos and are looking for that kind of person."
Right now Beautiful People Arizona has just over 300 members, but Brown is hoping for a boost when she unveils a Web site makeover on July 1. Starting this summer, current members will vote on who gets to join the club - sort of a local hotornot.com. Non-members won't be able to view profiles on the site, but they will be able to browse through pictures currently under consideration.
To be accepted, you don't need a sexy swimsuit shot, Brown says, but you do need a picture that shows you at your best - without being misleading.
"Our members also police," she says. "If you go on a date, it better be you. The photo better be current."
By Kerry Lengel
The Arizona Republic
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