If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Dan Savage controversially suggests that infidelity can sometimes save a marriage and advises all partners to be 'GGG.' What exactly does 'GGG' stand for, and under what specific circumstances does he argue that cheating is actually the best way to keep a family together?
- To fight back against extreme political bigotry, Dan Savage and his readers successfully redefined a prominent US Senator's last name into a highly explicit term. How did this unique form of protest demonstrate the shifting power dynamics of the modern LGBT movement?
- Why does Dan Savage compare straight people celebrating Halloween to the LGBT community's Pride parades, and how does he argue that destigmatizing 'kinky' street fairs and BDSM gatherings actually saves lives?
Listen to American Savage — Free Audiobook
Key Takeaways from American Savage
- To maintain healthy intimate relationships, partners should strive to be 'GGG'—good in bed, giving of pleasure, and game for anything within reason.
- Using the Old Testament to condemn homosexuality is deeply hypocritical, as modern Christians already disregard its similarly outdated mandates on slavery and stoning.
- Abstinence-only sex education is counterproductive and harmful, directly correlating with the United States having the highest teen pregnancy and STD rates among industrialized nations.
- While sexual orientation is not a conscious choice, remaining in the closet as an adult is a choice that often leads to damaging, anti-gay hypocrisy among conservative politicians.
- The fierce conservative opposition to the Affordable Care Act is highly ironic given that the healthcare policy originally emerged as a solution from a conservative think tank.
American Savage — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Using the Bible to attack homosexuality is deeply hypocritical.
Chapter 3: Some relationships can be helped by extramarital sex, and all partners should be good, giving and game.
Chapter 4: The Church’s sexual teachings are far from reality, and US sex education is badly failing.
Chapter 5: The case against marriage equality and same-sex parenting is both hypocritical and irrational.
Chapter 6: Gay pride parades and BDSM fairs are freeing, promote safer sex, and straight people can gain from them too.
Chapter 7: Despite conservative claims, being gay is not a choice – but staying closeted definitely is.
Chapter 8: The LGBT movement has saved lives and pushed people to defend their own dignity.
Chapter 9: US health care and gun control policies urgently need serious reform.
American Savage Summary & Overview
American Savage (2014) explores some of the most contentious social and political issues in the US today, ranging from religion to gay rights, and from health care to education. It offers a fresh, humorous and unconventional perspective on today’s most divisive subjects, while also sounding a rallying cry to fight oppression and stand up for human rights.
This is a Blinkist staff pick
“Podcast fans will no doubt know Savage from shows like This American Life and his own wildly popular podcast, Savage Love. His unflinching, playful style provokes honest thought about gender, orientation, love, sex, and why we all have a blinkered view of what constitutes a healthy relationship. Read, think, enjoy — and never, ever Google “Santorum”. ”
– Carrie, Managing Editor of Blinkist Magazine
Who Should Listen to American Savage?
- Advocates of LGBT issues
- Partners looking for relationship and sex advice
- Readers interested in health care, gun laws and gay rights
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