Dan Savage is one of the most well-known sex columnists in America. Also known for his creation of the It Gets Better campaign, Savage prides himself on his ability to educate seemingly knowledge less people on matter of the bedro…heart.
Not only does he have a widely read column in The Stranger, but Savage also has his extremely popular podcast series, Savage Love, in which listeners can call in with questions and Savage will not only answer them but sometimes even call the person back.
I’ll be honest I had no idea who this Dan Savage guy was before he came around sniffing in College Park for “a new project” he was working on. But last year when MTV announced that it would be piloting a TV show for Savage in which the sexual health guru toured U.S. college campuses, I have to admit—I got curious. I found everything I could about this man—I was borderline stalking poor Savage.
(Photos provided by mtv.com)
Also this time last year I had the opportunity to be involved in the SHARE group on campus. SHARE, which stands for Sexual Health and Reproductive Education, spread knowledge (not STI’s) around campus in an effort to reduce the amount of unhealthy knowledge regarding sexual health. And since I was involved with this group I had the opportunity to sit in on Savage’s taping here at UMD!
Being that at this point I had already fallen head over heels for Savage, I jumped on this opportunity faster than anything I had ever jumped on before (insert dirty thought here). My SHARE coordinator at the time, Alli Matson, had the opportunity to even sit down and talk with Savage about sexual health on campus.
The night of the taping Savage fielded questions for about 2 ½ hours in which time me and one other SHARE educator had the opportunity to ask questions to Savage himself! He reiterated that this show may not even get picked up and not to get our hopes up. It was still awesome—he gave dirty nicknames to “Testudo,” “Van Munching,” and “Route One” all while filling the audiences mind with facts regarding their innermost sexual desires and curiosities.
He then moved on to Cornerstone to discover how students at UMD “hook up” at bars—he invited us all and it was there I got to meet him (and no, I didn’t get arrested for trying to kidnap him—but don’t think the thought didn’t cross my mind)!
You can imagine my excitement when a little over a month ago Alli posted an article about Savage U on my Facebook wall and my even larger excitement when a few weeks later we discovered UMD would be the featured school on the pilot episode! Now, at this point in my life I am in a high school student teaching so I was terrified my students would see “Ms. Sullivan” asking sex questions on MTV but then I thought—who care? They need to know!
Fast forward to Tuesday, April 10th. The show finally airs! I sat down with my mom, a mistake on my part as I had to mute majority of the show or answer her questions (“Wait—what does that mean?!”). But for the parts I did catch, I watched in amazement as I saw my school, our school, on MTV—we had finally gotten our 15 minutes of fame!
Savage toured the campus, talked to individual students about wanting more sex, problems coming out and “finding someone,” and getting tested for STI’s. They also showed Savage answering questions at Cornerstone as well as remarking on the poetry in the men’s bathroom—“Never raw dog a random.” Thank you, men of UMD, for putting the use of a condom into such eloquent words.
I had almost breathed a sigh of relief until my mom went “LAUREN. LAUREN. THERE YOU ARE. WHAT DID YOU JUST ASK?!” Yes—my question had been aired. I laughed so hard I was crying—go figure, out of all the questions asked that night, they’d pick the now high school teacher. Oh well! (If you’d like to find me feel free to catch a repeat of Savage U or stream it on MTV.com. I’m the one who gets the “shark week” comment in return.)
As far as the show goes—it’s good. It could be better, but it’s good. I’d rather it focus more on the student questions because those are definitely more fun than the Savage interviews but I acknowledge the need for the deeper topics brought up with individuals. I hope this show sticks around—it is definitely informative and in times where other shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” are gaining popularity, it is vital people get this information from somewhere other than friends and random places.
Savage U takes an in-your-face approach to talking about the topics that weigh on a lot of our minds, and Savage—who’s known for not holding back— is perfect for this task. Not only does the show promote safe sexual health through condom use and frequent STD testing, but it also discusses issues like homosexuality, bullying, and sexual abuse.
And yes—when I came back from spring break there were whispers of “Did you see Ms. Sullivan on the sex show?” to which I replied, “Hey—why care? If you watched it, you must have had a question, too!”
If you’d like to watch Savage U it appears every Tuesday night at 11 p.m. on MTV.