Ugly people have rights too

Civil society tends not to bother with frivolous things like beauty. But in a world where what you look like counts, not looking right can be a challenge that prevents you from living out your basic human right of being involved in love life. Which is why Howard James, founder of a dating site for ugly people called The Ugly Bug Ball, believes he is doing good by providing a public service, telling the tabloid newspaper The Sun that his site allows people who aren’t attractive to engage in the dating game without “fear of ridicule for being ugly or excessively overweight” and without “spending years paying for dating sites they have no hope on”.

Although it sounds good on paper, does it really work? According to Tom Clifford, 36, and Jainine Walker, 31, the first couple to become engaged after meeting on TUBB, it does, and brilliantly. Their story started with a message: “I’ve got a face that makes children cry but … I think you’ll love me”. Clifford knows he is not Brad Pitt, but Walker says “I’m no Angelina Jolie either. To me Tom is the perfect, handsome prince … I’m head over heels in love”. They will be married in December.

The TUBB advertises itslef as a dating site for the “aesthetically challenged” and has been hugely successful ever since its launch in 2009, when it attracted more than 1500 visitors in its first five days. James is not surprised. “It’s a sad fact that up to half of the UK is made up of ugly people. We’re scooping up these people and offering them a glimmer of hope – in many cases their first and only opportunity of meeting a member of the opposite sex.”