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Bad Attitude
March 5, 2009
Tools
I have lived with my boyfriend for almost two years. He says he loves me and does a lot of loving things for me. We are both in our early 60s, but we have the sexual energy of 20-year-olds. Here's the problem: I am overweight (size 18). I was overweight when he met me. I now know that he hates fat women. You should hear his disgust when he sees them on TV or on the street. He has begun to tease me and make jokes about my weight. This hurts my feelings, and I have told him so. He says I'm too sensitive. What is your advice to me?
Fat And Teased
Before I answer your question, FAT, I'm going to take a little stroll down Suppressed Memory Lane: I once had a "bisexual" boyfriend. (I place bisexual in quotes, Angry Bisexual Community, only because this guy wasn't bisexual. That doesn't mean other guys aren't bisexual.) My "bisexual" boyfriend liked to claim that he really wasn't that into men until I came along—I was the magical exception, the one guy who did it for him—but even then, he told people loudly at parties, he was mostly turned on by how into him I was, he wasn't that into me or my junk. (He could barely stand to look at my cock—which is why he stuffed it in his mouth or ass whenever we got naked.)
And you know what, FAT? He made disparaging comments constantly about gay men he saw on the street or on TV—gay men like the one he was with—and put me down constantly for having a much more serious case of the gay than he did. He was going to marry a woman one day, a woman with lady parts, and have a family; I was going to remain hopelessly gay all my life. He was, of course, gayer than a college wrestling team and eventually came out as gay—much to the consternation of all his friends who believed him when he said that he wasn't really that into men. (By which I mean to say, much to the consternation of absolutely no one.)
Anyway, your current boyfriend (early 60s, straight, asshole) reminded me of my old boyfriend (20, gay, asshole). A man who claims to have fallen in love with someone who he's not attracted to, or someone who disgusts him, expressly so he can belittle that person and make that person feel awful, well, that man is a complete asshole, FAT, and my first impulse is to advise you DTMFA just like I did my asshole boyfriend. But...
You say he's good to you otherwise, does loads for you, and fucks you regularly—so before you dump this motherfucker, FAT, let's consider reforming him. Say he's totally into you and into big women, just like my ex was totally into cock. But, like my ex, he's uncomfortable with his sexuality and worries about what other people think—including you, FAT, as paradoxical as that may sound. So he makes asshole comments in an effort to hide his true feelings—possibility fetishistic feelings—for big women. The asshole comments allow him to pretend that he's not into your body, just hopelessly in love with you, the person you are on the inside—which makes him one of the "good guys," i.e., a guy who isn't so shallow as to let a little thing like your weight come between you.
While I had to dump my "bisexual" boyfriend, FAT, a little shock-and-awe therapy might convince your "fatphobic" boyfriend to knock it off. You shouldn't have to put up with his comments, FAT, whether they're motivated by shame for his attraction to big fat asses or, if my theory is incorrect, by a genuine hatred for fat people. Either way, FAT, you've got to tell him—in no uncertain terms—to knock it the fuck off already. Don't be measured, don't wrap it up in "I" statements, no mewling about your feelings. Give him both barrels: "If you don't knock it the fuck off—the asshole comments, the stupid jokes—I'm going to kick your ass out, got it?" A strategic blowup or two should occur—scream, yell, smash a few things you're not all that attached to—when he slips up. Repeat until his attitude changes or his address does.
When I first met my fiancé two years ago, he was training for a marathon and had the body of a Greek god. But he seems to be losing all interest in his appearance. The other day he sent me a photo of himself (I am finishing college in another state) that made me yelp in shock because he'd gained so much weight. I don't want to dump him—the man I love is encased in that mound somewhere—but it's gotten to the point where I'm glad I'm in a long-distance relationship because it means I don't have to sleep with him. How can I communicate this in a subtle way so as not to hurt him?
The Biggest Gainer
Well, aren't you a shallow piece of shit. I mean, do you love this man for who he is or how he looks? What about the person he is on the inside?
Just kidding, TBG, I'm totally on your side. While we all eventually arrive at old and ugly—"ugly" is an entirely subjective judgment, of course, and for some of us, "body of a Greek god" counts as "ugly"—you're under no obligation to marry a man who's in a hurry to get there. Tell him that committing to you means committing to maintaining his body out of consideration for the pleasure you're expected to provide to it/take from it.
Thanks for your advice to Missing Kisses, where you explained that sometimes men can be turned on by a desire to do some post-orgasm activity but lose that desire once we've ejaculated. I have this problem with one fantasy.
For years, while fucking my wife, I've told her about how badly I want to come all over her nipples and then lick it off. She's keen on the idea and presents herself to be licked clean after I come. However, I've never been able to follow through. It's not a matter of some latent gay panic; I'm simply not turned on anymore at that point and have no desire. Is there a way around this? I'd like to complete the act at least once, if only to surprise her.
Loses Interest Quickly
There is a way around it, LIQ, but your wife will have to lead the way. So stop reading, LIQ, because the rest of this answer is for the wife's eyes only. Mrs. LIQ: You're going to have to make him do it. You're going to have to force him to follow through on all that lick-my-come-off-your-tits dirty talk. The next time he tells you he's going to lick his come off your tits, tell him that you're holding him to it: He either does it or no more pussy for him until he does. And don't make an idle threat: If he doesn't do it, don't let him fuck you again until he does. He'll do it grudgingly, and he'll hate it while he's doing it. But once he's horny again, he'll be so turned on by the thought of what you "forced" him to do that he'll totally "bring it," as the kids were only too recently saying, and fuck the living shit out of you. You're welcome.
Sex is hard sometimes!
http://www.robynochs.com/writing/essays/…
http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_…
Weeks ago Dan wrote that a stupid person was "retarded". What if Obama called a stupid person "gay"?
I've sent Dan personal email and never got any response. Don't delete the question fellow readers, what do you think? Double standard or just no thesaurus?
Regarding partners getting fat...I have to say, if a little weight is enough to turn you off to someone, I tend to think what you had was probably not all that strong or lasting to begin with.
btw, i have a gayer than hell male friend who recently has started fooling around w girls after a break up with The Love of His Life (c). is this a normal process of rebound? getting stoned and letting straight girls suck you off?
Like you.
Yes, what Dan wrote was insensitive, but if you're expecting him to be sensitive to everyone's concerns, you've got a long wait ahead of you.
Find a more constructive way to fight this particular fight, like pushing for legislation that will empower developmentally disabled people.
The rest of us come here to discuss other topics. If you don't like being ignored, go start a "Dan Savage Is Ignorant" blog, and see how many likeminded people you can find. I suspect most of Dan's regular commentators don't share your concern.
There IS no way to gently tell someone (s)he needs to clean up his/her act. When you do that, you ARE going to hurt his/her feelings. It's a matter of saying what you want to say clearly, so the person won't feel manipulated, listening compassionately as (s)he reacts to what you've said, and being ready to follow through on what you've said you're going to do if the person doesn't make a change within a reasonable amount of time, instead of letting the matter hang over your relationship like a dangling sword.
There IS no way to gently tell someone (s)he needs to clean up his/her act. When you do that, you ARE going to hurt his/her feelings. It's a matter of saying what you want to say clearly, so the person won't feel manipulated, listening compassionately as (s)he reacts to what you've said, and being ready to follow through on what you've said you're going to do if the person doesn't make a change within a reasonable amount of time, instead of letting the matter hang over your relationship like a dangling sword.
This sounds a bit like the flipside of the porn stereotype coin. American college campuses are teeming with a generation of straight dudes who expect women to look and act a certain way during sex – shrieking, flailing, hair tossing, the digging in of manicured nails, and the inevitable 'I'm cumming! I'm cumming!' (which, while it may happen, is not what any women I know do – risks breaking concentration. And sounds like it's out of a porn, duh.)
So anyway, you may be disappointed 'cause you've been led – by other partners or by porn – to expect fireworks. If it's because you find it genuinely arousing, okay. Try to get him to talk dirty more, maybe say, 'Oh I love hearing you cum.' But if it's just because of skewed expectations, and he's vocal and dirty in other ways, I'd say just accept a grunt and a hand squeeze.
Yeah, I don't get that either.
Sure, there are probably a few moments there when I am incapacitated and enjoying the sensations, but I've always thought it was fun to keep fooling around. I just have to adjust my strategy for a few minutes.
If the "annnnd I'm spent" guys could just keep on keepin' on through the refractory period, they would find that they are ideally situated to reduce their partners to a puddle of pleasure. They are thinking clearly and ready for a more prolonged session- both advantages.
Not that I've ever done that, of course, because I'm not into dirty, shameful sex acts. Only a pervert would do such a thing.
As far as LIQ goes... Dude, just do something that doesn't fucking turn you on, already. So you've lost your sexual desire. So what?! It's not like she's expecting you to do something physiologically impossible for a non aroused man.
Dan's Still White Hot.
If she does end up dumping him, I hope she spends all that extra time and energy with a personal trainer so she can get slim and buff for *herself.*
...And a little sweet revenge.
Yes Dan, your wannabe young, profane, political tirades are part of your charm, but good 'ole sex advice is what you do best.
PLEASE PLEASE, PUL-LEASE keep it up!!
For that comment I'm calling you Retarded. If you didn't know retarded does not define a person with a mental handicap and is politically incorrect and that Obama reference? What do Obama, president, and Dan Savage, controversial sex columnist, have to do with each other exactly? Umm Dan is more awesome than Obama? I just don't know.
not that that's any better, or any less of a reason to DTMFA ... she absolutely should. guy's a dick.
I'm a big girl too - and, GREAT advice to FAT. :) Exactly what that woman needs to hear! <3 Agreed w/ all other posters plz: a little less politics, a little more sex.
The "Angry Bisexual Community" comment was hardly a dig at bisexuals - it reads more like (and, I would think, is) a dig at the kind of paranoia you've displayed in your comment.
In anticipating a fire-up, Savage inserts the the explanation of his "quotation marking" the word "bisexual".
Big whoop.
Oh puh-lease!
Dan wasn't calling the entire bisexual community angry, he was addressing the angry portion of the bisexual community who are so busy being angry at the slights they imagine from Dan's comments like this that they can't see that putting "bisexual" in quotes was not an insult without an explanatory statement.
I'm a bisexual myself, so don't dare start in with "you don't know what it's like" stuff. Most people read Savage Love primarily for entertainment, secondarily for information, then for whatever else. So Dan writes his information in an acerbic (read entertaining) manner. The Angry [whatever community currently being "insulted" by Dan] Community needs to take a deep breath and read his columns with humor, as they were intended to be taken, rather than with offense.
I've tried to email Dan about this. He get's a lot of email and missed it or just ignored it. Perhaps he responded to me, and it got lost in my junk filter. This is not off topic.
If Dan expects dignity for a minority to which he belongs ( gay marriage ) why would he not support it for all minorities through his constant abuse of the word "retarded" as a writer in a very public forum.
Dan's readers seem to love or accept the "retarded" adjective. Dan would not dare use a stereotype like the N word because readers would respond and he would lose a significant percentage of readership and possibly his job.
Dan has thrown himself into this much like right wing people don't want to be called for their lazy language and stereotypes. One might add fat phobic people.
I'm a long time fan of Dan. This is more about our culture than Dan. Dan long ago had readers call out to him with "hey faggot" which had less stir because he is gay. I don't think he has the same right to so freely abuse other stereotypes.
there are many more examples:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Savag…
You don't deserved to be put down, but the next time you find someone offending you, listen to the excuses they might offer in defense of your humiliation. If you listen, they sound just like y o u. get it? Or are you , well, impeded by your lack of hypocrisy awareness.
There's a great scene in Spike Lee's "do the right thing" and Beth, you fight right in there, we all might in times of error. But are we aware of the differences between what we expect and what we do?
FAT shouldn't be afraid of standing up to him cause she thinks no one else will want her. First of all, size 18 isn't that big (or unhealthy), secondly, there are so many men who love big women out there that if this guy won't shape up, he should be replaced.
I wanted to say that I really enjoyed the way DS handled FAT; well-timed, controlled "angry" responses (damn those quotation marks!) are like small explosive charges used in making roads or bringing down buildings. You don't need huge amounts, just enough, and well-placed, used strategically.
The way my wife and I succeeded at snowballing was all due to speed. At the very first spurt of cum, she immediately shot up and kissed me, squirting it into my mouth while I was still orgasming.
The point is to taste and swallow cum, not to get every last little drop of a load.
This way I was still in 'the zone' -- very horny and very turned on by this. If she had waited until I was finished, I might easily had said, "Mmm... maybe not, dear."
So - be quick! Or - after the first shot on your tits - squeeze the shit out of his dick until he licks it up.
On rare occasions, yelling at a guy is the only way to get him to listen to you. This method should be used with care, though, because letting anger out this way tends to snowball.
Smashing things (unless you're punching a pillow) can lead to physical violence, too. A person may think, "Well, I felt better after I threw that bowl across the room," so the next time, he/she may aim it at the other person's head.
As someone who's been the favorite target of a very angry woman, I would encourage Dan to advise people in this situation to break up with their partners if they can't find healthier ways to communicate with them.
In a healthy relationship, problems get solved via good communication, not screaming, yelling, and/or smashing things.
I wouldn't put up with a partner who says (in effect): "I don't care for the way you look, and I'm going to badger you about it until you do what I want you to do." I'd tell the guy who operates that way to get lost! I think "Fat and Tired" should get up the courage to do the same, and find someone who will appreciate her as she is.
Fat and Tired, ask yourself: are you better off being with this guy, and feeling lonely because he isn't happy with himself and takes it out on you, or would you be happier if you were single and seeking someone with whom you'll be a better fit? If you think it's the former, get some counseling, please, and figure out how to value yourself more. You're worth it.
He'll have two choices.
Either die from suffocation, or change his ways.
There, problem solved :)
Great advice, Dan. No one should EVER tolerate abuse because some prick feels the need to make himself better for whatever reason.
I hope she dumps this asshole.
Sorry I do not agree with the advice.
"A strategic blowup or two should occur—scream, yell, smash a few things you're not all that attached to—when he slips up. Repeat until his attitude changes or his address does."
The problem with it is in order to 'reform' him she has to become a ugly person on the inside. He's an asshole why should she become one to stay with him?
Never stay with someone that 'makes' you compromise your own values or makes you be a worse person to be with.
You can't fight abuse with abuse. It only creates a unhealthy emotionally destructive cycle.
When FAT looks in the mirror instead of seeing a good yet overweight woman she will see the person who just had a temper tantrum broke things and tried to 'bully' her boyfriend into not emotionally abusing her.
She will only give him something else to 'look down' on her for.
Hope that helps.
My current girlfriend makes noises like a porno, and I happen to know for a fact she's never seen one in her life. This is crazy to me. Well, the content is the same, anyway, but the inflection is a lot more dynamic.
Dan knows where I'm coming from.
Yeah, it's something LIQ has said he'll do, but if he doesn't want to at the time, he doesn't want to. You're allowed to change your "yes" to "no" at any point, aren't you? If LIQ asks his wife to force him, that's fine - but if the wife does it of her own accord, that's a little sketchy, IMO. I think LIQ should either man up and put his money where his mouth is, ***of his own free will***, or else stop leading his wife on without following through.
And Masturbate til I die- thanks for bringing the creepy.
In the past however I have objected to a few statements that seemed a bit over general, but I've pretty much always agreed with your advice (for example the gay man with the married bisexual boyfriend, you were totally right) though there are bisexuals who don't end up with a partner of the opposite sex, and we're not all douche bags like the guy in the column. Basically bisexual or not married men (or women) that repeatedly tell their bit on the side that they'll leave their spouse for them are a douche baggy population.
In my continuing rant about the perception of bisexuals (not your perception Dan, you seem to be pretty cool about us switch hitters) is that why is it whenever a lesbian chick gets dumped by a bisexual girl and the bisexual girl goes on to date a dude is it assumed that the bisexual girl left the lesbian because the bisexual girl broke up with the lesbian, not because of relationship/compatibility issues, but most certainly because the bisexual girl felt the need to conform to social norms (or because she wanted dick instead of pussy, to be crude) why can't the bisexual chick ever just have had issues with the girl she was dating? Why can't it ever be about "well actually no, we broke up because she kept blaring the same Paul Anka album all the time and I never got any sleep" or "Well actually, no, it was because she smelled funny" or "well actually no, it was because her favorite movie was 30 first dates" or... ANYTHING BUT THE GODDAMN BISEXUALITY. Not that I'm never saying there's never any chance it might be the bisexuality, but I think in a certain way, blaming the bisexual is the ultimate "it's not me its her" it takes all blame off the bisexual's lovelorn ex, it wasn't anything they did, it was just that a case of a bisexual being bisexual.
My first partner was a girl, we were together for three years and we broke up because we grew apart, she wanted to be an accountant, and I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be wild, and she wanted to be comfortable, and I wanted monogamy, and she didn't (both of which are fine decisions, but we just weren't compatible any longer), and into my life walks a boy, a rock musician, into traveling, into monogamy and long term commitment. His name is Lillie, I like how he looks dressed up as a school girl (or naughty librarian), and I'm more than happy to be on his arm in public with him wearing a dress and a full face of makeup, I've introduced him to my mom and dad with him wearing a skirt.
Now, if my first girlfriend had remained the punk rock photographer she was when I met her, I'd probably still be with her, and I've never cared what's up Lillie's skirt.
I know not everyone thinks this about bisexuals, but I know a lot of lesbians that won't date bi chicks because they don't want to deal with the girl "turning straight on them" and I mean, yes that's their prerogative, but come on, for goodness sake, more often than the relationship ends not because of the parts someone does or doesn't have, but because of who they are, because of their snoring, evil pets, high levels of crazy, powerpuff girls sheets, collection of bottle caps, intense career, inability to pronounce bagel, constantly mismatched socks, snooty country club affiliation, racism, preference for grapes over blueberries, anal retentiveness, unsanitary bathroom, or whatever other trait might possibly have made them incompatible with their partner.
Trying to abuse/violently confront an abuser DOES NOT WORK. It only escalates the problem.
I agree that women in their 60s have a hard time finding partners, so this asswipe should get one warning talk on the subject. Only one, and then he´s out.
Unfortunately this kind of behavior in a 60 year old man is probably quite ingrained and its likely a hopeless case. Some people need to psychologically destroy their partners as part of a power trip. She probably can´t stay with him.
However, I can say as an older woman who´s dating with the demographics against her, I all too often find that if a man is still single at that age, there always is a damn good reason for it! Good luck FAT, you will need it.
No > NO > NO
Sorry I do not agree with the advice.
"A strategic blowup or two should occur—scream, yell, smash a few things you're not all that attached to—when he slips up. Repeat until his attitude changes or his address does."
The problem with it is in order to 'reform' him she has to become a ugly person on the inside. He's an asshole why should she become one to stay with him?
Never stay with someone that 'makes' you compromise your own values or makes you be a worse person to be with.
You can't fight abuse with abuse. It only creates a unhealthy emotionally destructive cycle.
When FAT looks in the mirror instead of seeing a good yet overweight woman she will see the person who just had a temper tantrum broke things and tried to 'bully' her boyfriend into not emotionally abusing her.
She will only give him something else to 'look down' on her for.
I don't know what the answer is. I'd prefer he make some noise but to be honest he's kind of a quiet guy in general.
"I was at an LGBT conference this weekend that discussed how prevalent prejudice against bisexuals is, even among LGBT's... "
conferences like that are led by people who get off on the sound of their own voice and attended by people who thrive on the victim mentality. there are enough real victims in the LGBT community without having to invent new ones. You put the wuss in the word wuss.
Men who make ignorant comments like that are less likely to find anyone who's interested in eating their cum in the first place.
The severely impaired ones do not, but others in this community certainly are aware of the insult attached to the word "retarded." I don't think you've given us a good reason to feel free to use it as a general put-down.
I don't think a campaign against its use in the general lexicon is going to gain any traction, though. People of limited imagination need a handy insult to use to describe those they feel are inferior to them.
If you won't, then you are a selfish prick and SHOULD be denied pussy for the duration.
As for using the word "retarded" as a slur, I'm not too down with that myself. Like using "gay" in the same manner, it's offensive because actual retarded or gay people didn't CHOOSE to be that way and their state of being has nothing to do with the implied insults being hurled.
One of my daughter's friends (both of them 9) was over recently and kept saying, "That's so retarded!" I was just about ready to say something when she said "I'm so retarded!" and my daughter said, "no you're not, you're just stupid." Good girl:)
Mental disabilities vary widely and most I've know who are "retarded" are perfectly capable of grasping such concepts and language and are not terribly thrilled about them.
One reason my daughter knows the difference between "retarded" and "stupid" or "ignorant" is that her father has an adopted cousin who is mentally handicapped. He's that way because his birth parents locked him in a closet and didn't give him the nourishment, physical or mental, he required for proper brain development for his first few years of life.
So she KNOWS what "retarded" is, and it's NOT some relatively fully functional individual who is simply acting like as asshole.
I'm sure your'e man ain't all that himself, so give him a taste of his own medicine and pick on him for a change...or save yourself the trouble and just dump his ass.
I like this. Retarded people have a good excuse for their diminished mental capacity. Plain ol' regular dumb shits don't. This makes it intensely unfair to associate retardation with the sort of willful ignorance that causes perfectly able-brained people to refuse to use the ol' gray matter.
That said...I think we're getting to a place with the word "retard" where we can separate the clinical meaning from the casual meaning and the two will branch off from each other. Like the word "dumb" or the word "right" (meaning "morally correct" - yes, this was originally a slur against left-handed people). Maybe. Only time will tell for sure, and in the mean time, I'd rather be safe than sorry. For all the whining people do about being "PC," good manners and tact never hurt anyone, so quit your goddamn bitching, you whiny little twerps.
Dan's got a great suggestion: DTMFA.
This inhuman scumbag obviously doesn't deserve you! It sounds like he's not willing to grow with you, either.
Move onward and upward.
I left a scumbag asshole like that recently and am much better off for it. Unless you're really into S & M, who needs abuse?
I would like to say that the bisexual community, by and large, gets up in arms when it might appear that someone doesn't except their sexual orientation. As a member of this community, I am aware of the problems that are faced...but may I suggest that people just chill the fuck out?? Why does everyone need to be so goddamn pc??
You can fit that description and still be a good lover. All you have to do is know your limits, know your body, and pace yourself. It isn't hard to make sure your partner (or partners!) have had all the fun they need before you let yourself go, especially in a long-term relationship in which you can really learn your partner's rhythms). It just takes bit of self-control and consideration.
As for the come-eating/licking thing, it's always amazed me that guys who love it when their wife or girlfriend let them come in their mouth get all freaked out at the thought of their own tongue or lips touching their come. Are they afraid a drop of their own come on their lips is going to turn them gay?
just to clarify.



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