Dan Savage's advice to Silvio Berlusconi.

[randomness]

This is from back in January but I never got around to posting it:

I have a problem. I like to think of myself as a pretty powerful guy: Let's just say that, in my current gig, I have at my disposal the seventh largest GDP in the world. And it wasn't just handed to me: I worked my ass off for it. Built my own media company from the ground up, and charmed and networked and elbowed my way to the top of my field. Along the way, I've been known to indulge occasionally -- OK, often -- in my fondness for extracurricular women, the younger the better. (Still in high school? Don't mind if I do.)

So here's my question: Why can't I get away with it anymore?

—Confused Italian Approaching Obsolescence

Reply:

Ah, but I haven't answered your question: Why can't you get away with it anymore? Because, CIAO, in some ways luck is like a first wife (it dries up), and in some ways luck is like a first husband (it runs out).

Your luck, like your wife, stuck around for a long time, CIAO, and things might have stayed as they were, if you hadn't come to see your good fortune as the natural state of things. Once a man does that, CIAO, he can begin to take his luck for granted and to presume upon it. And we all know what happens to men who get overconfident: They get sloppy, they get caught, they get indicted, and sometimes they wind up getting sent places where there are no ladies.

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

*snerk* When it's not addressed to women, bisexuals, transgender people or fat people, Dan Savage's advice can be pretty good.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

I’m a 23-year-old female in a monogamish relationship—thank you for that word!—with my wonderful boyfriend of two years. I moved away last year to attend graduate school, and we agreed it was okay to sleep with other people while we’re apart. The last person I slept with was an acquaintance who knew both of us and understood what the deal was with our relationship. My question is, if I’m just looking for casual sex or a one-night stand, should I make it clear that we’re just going to have sex and I’m not interested in dating? How much should I tell the person I’m trying to pick up about a significant other they won’t ever meet?
Full Disclosure Necessary, Yathink?

If you meet a guy in a bar, exchange four words with him (and two of them are “Open up!” right before he spits a Jäger shot into your mouth), and you wind up back at your place, FDNY, the person you’re about to fuck can reasonably make two assumptions: 1) you’re a slut (in the sex-positive, reclaiming-that-word, sisterhood-is-powerful, drink-Jäger-out-of-a-hot-guy’s-mouth sense of the term), and 2) he’s unlikely to see you again. Under circumstances like these, FDNY, you are not obligated to disclose your relationship status. The only things you’re obligated to disclose are the precise kind of clitoral stimulation you require and the exact time you’ll need him out of your apartment.

But if a nice boy asks you out on something that your parents and steampunks call a “date,” and he explains that you’re really, really special, and he refrains from spitting Jäger shots into your mouth, you are obligated to disclose your relationship status to him, lest he make the entirely reasonable assumption that you’re single and interested in him, too.

What's wrong with that advice?

And please cite sources that don't rely on idiots being oversensitive concerning Savage.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Is one example indicative of a general trend?

I thought his advice to Berlusconi quite funny. Particularly given the place where it appeared.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

And please cite sources that don't rely on idiots being oversensitive concerning Savage.

Thanks! Until this line I thought you actually wanted to know. It was nice to see him give a woman sensible advice for once, though, thanks for that as well.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

IMHO, Savage is being a bit too sensitive about monogamy. I mean, Miss Manners doesn't think one date requires a person to point out that one is or might be interested in others, too:

The secret adults have best kept from the young is that it is perfectly proper and respectable for single people to date as many other single people as they wish. -- Miss Manners