Having once seriously dated a fantastic, and fantastically ugly, guy, I have developed the following fugly-guy philosophy: You have to feel in your lusty places that your man is, like, the hottest guy in the world. In your head, however, you may acknowledge that he is perhaps the hottest guy in the world only according to you.

A recent study about the relative physical attractiveness of spouses seems, at first glance, to bolster my theory, stating that hot-wife/not-so-hot hubby couples often feature the most mutual encouragement and support.

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Will a chiseled jaw prove to be Breakup Girl’s kryptonite?

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When it came to discussion of last week’s Ask Lynn/MSN letter, “Call me when you’re skinny,” you guys had an appetite for deconstruction. 108 comments so far — thanks, all! — and opinions all over the map.

Not all of them, however, sat well with FOBG Kate Harding. Some highlights from her comment in response:

1. “The ignorance about fat people’s lifestyles and abilities on this thread is really pretty astounding. So many people automatically assume this woman is a lazy glutton with limited mobility…We’re going on very little information here, but that doesn’t seem to bother some people, because they hear the word ‘overweight’ and suddenly, they know EVERYTHING.”
2. “Dude has every right not to date a fat woman if that’s not what floats his boat — just as we all have a right to our own attractions and dealbreakers…So those of you who don’t want to date fat people can rest easy — no one will ever force you to — but you might want to reconsider your assumptions about how hard it is for fat people to find love in the absence of your approval.”
3. “Fat is not a romantic death sentence. It only means you don’t get to date people who don’t want to date fat people. Which works out just fine for everyone.”

But the divine Ms. Harding was only getting started.

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Take one look at this picture and tell me that story is being covered EVERYWHERE out of serious concern for public health. Come on. It’s a CHEERLEADER who DIED during surgery for BREAST augmentation. In the meteorology of sex-and-death-sell headlines, it’s the perfect storm. It would have been enough the young woman had just been, you know, white and blond. But she is also a cheerleader. And oh, do we have a thing about cheerleaders. In high school, they stand to destroy our social lives. In Heroes, they stand to save the world. But while we’re busy thinking about cheerleaders doing everything but leading cheers, they are actually busy being insanely good athletes, performing superheroic stunts like the basket toss and — yes — the Superman. If you need reminding of that, or proof, check out this interview my alter ego did with Kate Torgovnick, author of Cheer!: Three Teams on a Quest for College Cheerleading’s Ultimate Prize. Hint:  the “ultimate prize” is not popularity.

Here, your weekly installment of Ask Lynn, BG’s alter ego’s column at MSN.com (powered by Match.com). Today we meet “Is Beauty Only Skin Deep?”, who has met someone of her own — online, anyway. Endless phone calls, round-the-clock IM, talk of marriage, sheer bliss…at least over optical fiber. But when her fella finally sees her photo (yes, after the M-word comes up), it’s perhaps his true face that shows. His response: “You’re pretty, but can you call again when you lose some weight?”

That, or when pigs fly?

Read the whole shebang, and then come back here to comment!