The inner beauty is all

What a fantastic way to live! Imagine a town where you are judged for what you are not for what you look like.

Sounds Utopian but there does exist a place like that in Italy – Piobbico, renowned for the “ugliness” of its residents. In 1879, some 2000-odd people settled down there, setting up the Club Dei Brutti or ‘Ugly Club.’ The ethos of this club is that “a person is what he is and not what he looks like.” Today, it has become a worldwide movement with more than 30,000 members across 25 global chapters.

The Club Dei Brutti was originally conceived as a matchmaking service for the town’s single women. As it evolved, local villagers made it their mission to remind society that inner beauty is more important than one’s physical appearance, and in 2007, Piobbico unveiled a statue dedicated to ugly people in the town’s square.

Senior members just have to judge and rank the “ugliness” of potential members – which can range from “unspecified” to “extraordinarily ugly”. Yet, the group’s members are not necessarily ugly – the club is more focused on celebrating one’s inner beauty and not worrying about what others think.

In a world where there is so much emphasis on looking beautiful, Piobbico is like a beacon, showing the world that being a beautiful person – genuine and honest is all that matters.