High School Hotties

Well, this is just delightful. Apparently some jackass in Seattle has decided that there's not enough objectification out there in the world, and has started a web site that gives college scholarships to students based on how "hot" they are. No, it's not a joke. According to the Chronicle of Higher Ed (subscription only):

The site (http://www.hshotties.com) encourages high-school students to post photographs of themselves so viewers can grade them, A+ through F, on their physical appearance. The concept is based on that of Hot or Not, a popular Web site that lets users rate photographs of men and women on a scale of 1 to 10.

Yet High School Hotties will do more than inflate (or destroy) teenage egos. For $5.95 a month, a student may become a "Varsity Member" of the site and join the scholarship competition. This spring members with at least a 3.0 grade-point average -- on the attractiveness scale, that is -- will compete in a "Hot-Off," a series of head-to-head matchups of their snapshots.

The 32 men and 32 women with the highest scores must then write an essay ("It probably will not be about world peace," says Mr. Bramsche) -- a chance for the beautiful to show whether they also have brains, or something like that. Yet more voting will follow.

Ultimately, one male and one female will win the title of "Hottest High Schooler in America." Each will receive a scholarship underwritten by an undisclosed insurance company, according to Mr. Bramsche.

Yeah. Because high school kids aren't worried enough about their appearance. But don't think it's just about looks and money - heck no! There's also a "hook up" option, a daily horoscope, and (dear lord, no) an advice column! So feel good about the future of our country, people - as long as enough of your peers think you're good looking, someone will always be there to pay you for it.

Color me disgusted.