Last week, the already-classy dating site MillionaireMatch announced a “true selfie” initiative, in which it encouraged its female members to post a makeup-free photo, in return for which they will earn a “special badge.” “It makes higher-quality connections with members who have the opportunity to see the real you!” said the site’s blog.
Uh huh. No equivalent badge seems to be available for the site’s male clientele, surprisingly! (A spokesperson did tell the pop culture site Fusion, however, that it is working on a verification for men, likely involving weight.)
MillionaireMatch, which protests in its introduction that it is “not a sugar daddy site” but rather a place where “successful singles meet each other,” already undermined that pretense to egalitarianism in a 2013 poll of its members, which found the vast majority of men were not interested in dating “fellow millionaires” but women of lesser means (female members, meanwhile, were fine with dating men of means). The finding was hilariously interpreted by spokesman Darren Shuster thusly: “It seems that financially independent men want to share their wealth with those less fortunate.”
As long as those less fortunate types look model-perfect with no makeup, that is.
Until there is a move for men on MillionaireMatch to be similarly upfront with members — true weight, let’s say! True height! True amount of hair! True personality, or lack thereof! — I’d like to encourage female MillionaireMatch members to relentlessly troll the site in response.
Rather than trying to climb an increasingly slippery slope of expectations about your being young and beautiful (conditions that, no matter how much plastic surgery he pays for, will elude you in the fullness of time), have some fun at the expense of the kind of monied jerk who’s just looking for a hot, dependent woman.
There are so many good role models out there, these days. Take it from foxy comedian Megan Amram, whose Twitter photo has become the stuff of legend.
Or the queen of the unflattering selfie, Amy Sedaris:
But taking hilariously bad selfies is no longer limited to comedians. It’s become a bona fide trend.
Women of MillionaireMatch — or women who are willing to join MillionaireMatch momentarily during its free trial, just for the sheer joy of a prank — I challenge you to flood the site with chin-tacular “true selfies,” and show this boring, sexist site that you’re over their double standards and their regressive matchmaking.
In return, you will receive a special badge: the Sense of Humor award, a quality rarely glimpsed in this dark corner of the Internet.