My own private Emocide

So, yesterday i got a reply to my inquiry - upon the request of some people, here is the essential content of the response:

The pictures:
- Women’s photos: it was startling how women are much, much more likely to send in revealing pictures than guys.
- People were chosen based on who was thought to be both good-looking and interesting/dedicated, regardless of what they were wearing.
- The people who chose the finalists actually hoped that there were more male contestants to send in pictures “showing off their large veggie-fueled muscles, but the guys who entered were apparently more conservative than the women about their dress.”

The content:
- The information people gave and their responses to the (initial) questions played a huge part in choosing the finalists.
- Several people - who would probably be considered “sexier” by the average American but whose answers weren’t as compelling or whom didn’t seem as dedicated to the cause as the finalists - were not chosen.
- Regarding the surveys: a lot of info was needed from each person, to choose the parts that seemed most interesting/unique. “People aren’t going to read extensive info about 20 different people, so we tried to make them succinct, and as interesting as possible - I’m sorry you thought they were generic.”

- More racial/ethnic diversity among the finalists would have been very welcome, but - for reasons unknown - this years contestants simply showed less diversity than in recent years.

“Regarding conventional ideas of beauty, this contest by its very nature is largely focused on physical appearance. People come to the website and media covers the story largely because they are interested in seeing conventionally “sexy” people. But we repeatedly emphasize that these people and vegetarians in general are sexy because of their compassion, and for their good health. I think this contest is great in that it pulls in people looking for pictures of sexy people, but reminds them that sexiness is about a lot more than just how you look, but about what moral stands you take in your life.”

i guess it all makes sense from their point of view. Still, i suppose it would have been nice to have an organization, that claims to give the voiceless a voice, make a point in being a bit more unconventional concerning the selection of the people for the contest. the last paragraph didn’t really reflect how i felt the backgrounds of the contest were communicated.