You have to wonder if there’s anything Dan Savage could do that would cost him the love of the media elites. His being a nasty bigot hasn’t kept ABC from developing a prime time sitcom based on his life [1], and now Newsweek [2] thinks readers would benefit from Savage’s thoughts on the state of sex in America.
Lauded by the magazine as “the mouthpiece of modern sex,” the gay activist and sleazy sex columnist focused many of his answers on consent and respect. “We should be kind and considerate and compassionate and forthright and honest. What matters is consent, joy and consideration for one another,” he says.
That’s kind of funny coming from a guy who declared his desire to have violent, hate sex [3] with presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann in 2011. Either consent is a recently developed concept for Savage, or he loses interest in it when faced with opposition.
Yet in the interview, Savage claims, “We have to figure out how to channel [sex] – how to incorporate it into our lives in a healthy way, in a way that makes us feel fulfilled, and that doesn’t destroy us or our partners.” It’s hard to imagine a scenario where hate sex would fulfill any of these criteria. Savage seems to be only interested in these when they suit his own interests.
Back in 2012, some high school students walked out of an anti-bullying speech [4] given by Savage that had turned into an attack on Christianity and traditional values. He proceeded to call these students ‘pansy-assed’ for their unwillingness to listen to his diatribe. So much for “kind and considerate.”
Savage showed more of that trademark consideration when Pope Benedict retired, headlining his column: [5] “That Motherfucking Power-Hungry, Self-Aggrandized Bigot In the Stupid Fucking Hat Announces His Retirement.”
Later in the article and in continuity with his previous approval of fringe sexual acts [6] like incest and BDSM, Savage describes robotic sex toys as a promising development in the future. “There are people out there who’ve always had giantess fetishes or centaur fetishes. There are no centaurs or 30-foot women out there right now. There will be.”
A bright future indeed, if we’re to believe Newsweek’s sexpert.
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