Savage controversy

Below are letters both in support and against City Pulse's new advice columnist, Dan Savage. If you would like to add your thoughts, feel free to comment below or, if you would like it considered for our print edition, email managing editor Andy Balaskovitz at andy@lansingcitypulse.com.

PRO

A big B for Bravery in giving Savage a test run; back in Buffalo, NYa NYC gal would graciously ship me the Village Voice interoffice when I confessed to occasionally paying $2.50/copy. Now brace yourselves alla you proud Mommas n Poppas because this will sting a LOT..

How 'bout y'all take all your cutesy-wootsey kiddie widdie BRATS stuff 'em in one of them extended plastic shopping cart/amusement rides ( blame the overinventive McCue Corp for that stroke of non genius ) and go to another goddam planet already? Or at least Antarctica cuz I hear it's always really cool down there, duuuude. But ya might hafta put down your lil e-toy and do some WORK to keep from freezing starving ( or at present, overheating ) like some people along the River Trail wrestle with daily.I sympathize w/them, not you whiny sacks of snuburban (sic) shite, capiche?

— “The (Cranky) Cosmic Codger”

Lansing

I was surprised to see the backlash in this issue's letters against the switch from Advice Goddess to Savage Love. I'm pleased that you have dropped Amy Alkon. Dan Savage's subject matter may be more explicitly sexual, but I feel like his column is more "appropriate" for CityPulse's wide range of readers because he treats the people who solicit his advice with respect instead of taking cheap shots at their problems (and making bad puns.) Please keep Savage in the paper.

— Kate Brattin

Lansing

Thank you for adding "Savage Love" this week. I've been a long-time reader of Savage (and now his podcast) and have looked up to him through my formative college years, his "It Gets Better" campaign and now as a 30 year old single woman.
Good move!

— Britta Urness
East Lansing

Words cannot describe my reaction to the news that the so-called “Advice Goddess” had been replaced by Dan Savage … But I will try anyway. As an avid City Pulse enthusiast and as a “This American Life” devotee, I was over-over-overjoyed to discover that one of my favorite NPR contributors had joined your ranks. His frankness, open-mindedness, and wit has always delighted me to no end, and the fact that is refreshing perspectives will be featured in your already delightful publication — right about my favorite crossword, no less — is almost too much to bear. I would keep rambling about how happy this advice column switcheroo of yours has made me, but my allotted 15 minutes for break (I’m at work right now) is, alas, almost up.

So … thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you …

— Elizabeth Scheffel

Lansing

I am amused that people are "Shocked! Shocked! Round up the usual suspects!" when it comes to the anti-family content of City Pulse.

A cover story on Marijuana; throughout the issue ‘grown-your-own’ advertisements. Turn It Down often features artist that hardly reflect ‘family values.’ Do you still run the Gentlemen's club ads?.

Your articles are often dense (the drainage district election) and I suspect the lip

movers probably ignore them.

You have no movie listings, you have no comics, so why are children (“Please protect children...”) picking up City Pulse? Because it’s free!

“I’ve been offended at your advertising on the back of your paper” but not one word about the lingerie ads in section one of The State Journal or of glossy underwear inserts! Oh!, that’s right, you have to pay for the Journal!

— Thomas Pollack

Lansing

Savage Love, all the way. Advice Goddess was one of my least favorite parts of the Pulse. Alkon tries too hard to be funny or quirky, and her column usually falls flat. I’ve occasionally sought out Savage Love online over the years, and will be happy to read it weekly in lieu of Advice Goddess. Good luck with the “controversy.”

— Nicholas Richard
Lansing

CON

For years I have valued the City Pulse for publicizing daily activities around town. Notable establishments (Sparrow Hospital, MSUFCU, coffee-houses, etc.) have carried this publication and I attend many of the activities listed. The column of "savage love" was recently brought to my attention ad I am stunned by the filth of content. Does not belong in this publication. What does this convey to residents and visitors in our capital city?

Since you only got a couple dozen letters objecting to the new Savage Love column, let me add one.   I opened the paper the other day expecting to find Amy's always amusing column only to find someone asking how he could deal with the inability to come without something up his ass.  And the answer?  Shove something up your ass.   Really?  This is what you want your readers to see when they open the paper?  Talk about lowered expectations.

Two dozen wrote to complain, so how many wrote to say oh gosh how wonderful?   No doubt in my mind you ditched AMy because she dared to differentiate between feminism and FEMINISM.  Wasn't deferential enough, so out the door. You are right, you can;t edit a paper by consensus, especially when you ask about things most readers have not experienced.   You want to add a new item?  Run a couple samples and THEN ask us what we think.

I am not offended, I can write "fuck" and "shit" and so on with the best of them.   Oh boy, teehee, he wrote actual cuss words right there in real print.  WHo cares?   But I find it disappointing you would simply pander to your choir.   If you just want to be an alternative lifestyle paper, then go ahead and be one.  Drop the self-conscious community stuff like Eyesore, and political coverage.  That will free up space for a giant three-part comparison of various brands of anal-lube.

So Savage is in a whole list of free papers.  Good for him, that is a lot more than I am in (none at this point, and not likely to increase).  But how many of those papers do people have to PAY for to read him?   They hand out free samples of Velveeta at the grocery store, but I sure as hell wouldn't BUY the stuff.  You say there is an audience for him in this 400,000 size community.  I am sure there is.   If you look, there is also an audience for people who like to go skeet shooting while nude, or who love to rub cow manure over themselves.   WHo is your larger audience, people looking for butt plugs?  Or people struggling with relationships?  How many of your readers need help with a relationship going sour versus those requiring butt plug advice? And why not a whole section on Bondage?  I KNOW there are folks into that around here.  Maybe even sponsor and organize the annual Old Town Bukkake Festival.  Hell, we'll even let that guy bring his butt plug.

And why leave out the beastiality folks?  I bet we could work up a promotion with the MSU sheep department and...

Dear Dan Savage:  what is the worst part about fucking a cow?   Ans:  You have to walk ALL the way around front to kiss them when you are done.

"Relationships are relationships."  You know, GLBT may have the additional problem of public acceptance of PDA, I am sure that is an extra burden, but it doesn;t alter the fact that gay or straight, the biggest problems any couple faces is communication within the relationship and within the immediate family/peergroup.   And advice to a straight person about breaking up applies just as well to a gay couple.   And for the record, I don;t want to watch straight couples sucking face at the shopping mall either.

Just as a naive straight guy, I could have sworn it was LGBT, but now GLBT?   I don;t care, pick one, but am I confused?  Sorry for the tangent...

SO fuck the profanity and explicit message, nothing there to overcome other than the giant lack of interest or appeal it generates...or fails to generate.  Except for the issues bulked up by insert pages for some Old Town event, the paper is not very large to begin with.  It is disappointing I now have one less page to bother to read.   Well other than the crossword puzzle.   Maybe you could screw up the puzzle too?  "Cock" and "cunt" both four letter words starting with C.  Perfect for the upper left corner.

It isn't interesting, it isn;t funny, screw it, it is a waste of time, and I'll take your advice and just turn the page.  Too bad.

I hope these thoughts are of interest.

— Douglas "Enzo" McCallum

Lansing

I have put this aside for a while and now come back to it to read our exchange. I appreciate your patience. I was angry at the time I sent the first email. That has not completely gone away but I can see this more clearly, now.

More clearly -- but not really any different.
I still have kids.
I still have my own sense of things.
I think the big thing I want you to consider, however, is that with the decline and deficiencies of the Lansing State Journal, the Pulse has been filling a part of the gap they leave behind. The Journal does not meet many needs and there are families (note -- people with kids) who grab the Pulse then get the rest on TV or on line.
My point?  Like it or not, the Pulse is in part at least, a community newspaper.
You have to admit. If you put out a good product, people will go for it.
Now that that has happened, consider how we readers are depending on you.
Look. how about just switching Savage and Godess? Put Savage on line and Goddess back where we can all get a kick out of her?

— Marcus Wells

I am very disappointed that you chose to drop Amy Alkon's column and fill it with Dan Savage's column. The two letters that he answered this week; the responses to them were so ridiculous, to say the least, and had no redeeming value whatsoever.

It fills me with sadness that, two weeks after some woman’s libber writes in about how “sexist” Amy is, her column is dropped. Is this the new policy that the paper holds, that if ONE person finds fault with something the paper is doing, it is dropped entirely? Stand your ground, Citypulse...Amy’s part in the paper was the ONE thing that I looked for when I picked up your copy every week. This new guy is the pits...

— D. Beswick

Savage Love? A column about fucking?
Don't trash this email, now. That's the language the writer uses. You printed it. Clearly its good enough for you.
The Advice Goddess was edgy, cheeky and wise-assed, but she was psychological and one had the idea she had some education to back up what she had to say. She also wrote about a bigger variety of people's problems and troubles than just how to bounce the beds.
This guy is just crude.
Okay. Here's what I have to do. I can't leave a paper with this stuff around the house for the boys and daughter. I don't dare let my wife see it. I'd hear about that all week. That means I don't bring it home. That means I don't pick it up.
I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.
That's a hassle because my wife and I use the paper for the reviews and the ads to plan weekends.
I can go on line, but I can't carry the computer around with me for those spontaneous ideas that happen when you're already out with the car. Like the restaraunt you want to remember or the time the play starts.
I just want you to know you have not made my life better.
I would sign off with some of Doc Savage's language but I've got to stay above that.

— Marcus Wells

I finally got a free moment to read the weekly print edition ofCity Pulse, only to find via your Feedback page that Amy Alkon’s “Advice Goddess” column has been replaced, in your printedCity Pulse, by Dan Savage’s graphic and vulgar “Savage Love.” I don’t think I will subject myself to the online, full version of Savage’s advice column, for the printed version (edited for length) was more than enough.

Frankly, I’m puzzled at the letters from two supporters. One person claims that Savage treats his readers “…with respect…” when his answers are riddled with crude, locker-room language better suited for cable TV. The second writer was “delighted” with Savage’s so-called wit, although I don’t see anything witty about using the word motherf***er in his answers to his readers. I agree with William Rowan and Hedlun Walton. Amy Alkon possesses insight and style in her answers. She always leave me laughing! Savage’s responses ARE pornographic, to the point that he left me Fifty Shades of Nauseous.

The front cover of the printedCity Pulsestill proudly touts its perennial claim of being “a newspaper for the rest of us.” What “rest of us” are you referring to; the NC-17 crowd? Well, Mr. Savage got it half correct when he entitled his column. It is “Savage” but it has nothing to do with love.

— Amy Krycinski

Grand Ledge

As both a fan of amy alkon and dan savage, I must say Id rather have amy there. Dan savage is good from a writers stand point, but he seems very discriminatory in what he decides to reply to in the mail. I'm not a sexual prude and am a advid gay rights supporter, but I think that he seems to focus more in the "savage love" collum on things that makes a shocking headline for it or will at least get your attention if you glance at the question or answer for even a second. I realize he's trying to help those with sexual and relationship issues, but he seems to focus more on not only more sexual issues, but ones that no matter where you are on the scale of sexual freedom that make you go "am I really reading this?" My issue is not so much children reading this, but it seeming like amys collum, a more relatable advice collum, being replaced with one that seems to favor more...esoteric issues. Not everyone wants to read about other peoples sexual issues. Gay or straight. Amy at least had the decency to post relationship issues for both straight and gay people. Besides, parents have enough of a hard time explaining sex to their kids as is. Showing a story where a teenager asks what to do about having the hots toward his best friends mom, in which the given answer is to pleasure himself to her. Just because its true, does not mean it needs to be said out in the open. It is kinda awkward for anyone to read...

— Howard Tyrone Smith II

Lansing

Recently I opened the City Pulse and – as has been the custom for years – turned to Amy Alkon’s column. In its place was “Savage Love,” which counseled one reader seeking advice to “go ahead and feel the shit out of your pissed-and-hurt feelings.” Mr. Savage then enjoined the fellow not to “go to war with your exes,” “trash them on Facebook,” or reveal himself to be “an angry and vindictive psycho” to mutual friends. I read the letter prompting this advice several times; there was absolutely nothing to indicate that the fellow seeking help was contemplating going “to war” or was vindictive, let alone “psycho.”

One hopes an advice columnist would possess a couple of key attributes; insight and style (see Amy Alkon’s column). Mr. Savage may be a great friend and full of good advice on a personal level, but solving non-problems and expressing himself with the style and class of an 8^th grader trying to impress friends with “colorful language” won’t cut it for most readers.

And what’s wrong with the editorial board of the City Pulse? You are publishing in a city with a major university right next door. What about your younger readers? Is this the image of Lansing you want to project? I hope that the City Pulse is not taking a nose-dive in quality. If so, I will have no choice but to feel the shit out my feelings of disappointment and find something else to read.

— William Rowan

Lansing

When my wife told me she wrote to the City Pulse to complain about the replacement of Amy Alkon with columnist Dan Savage, I rolled my eyes and wondered why she was making a big deal. I knew the Advice Godess is the first thing she reads each week, and I enjoy it myself, but I also know Savage is a popular columnist. I pointed out that the City Pulse suggested Amy's column could still be accessed on her website. After reading the first Lansing installment of Savage Love, though, I have to throw my full support behind my wife. I don't consider myself a prude, but the questions posed and Savage's responses are practically pornographic. No, not practically, they WERE pornographic. I like to leave the City Pulse out so guests might pick it up and look through it, but if the rest of his columns are like this, I'll probably be hiding it. Seems to me like that sort of content is what should be left to internet, and give us Amy back to spark conversation about relationships.

— Hedlun Walton

Lansing

Please bringback the Advice Goddess column.Advice Goddess column was generalized for the Lansing public audience.The City Pulse is distributed at many locations throughout Lansing where children have free access to the Lansing City Pulse such as many public libraries.The new Savage Love column is more appropriatein adult onlypublication,not the Lansing City Pulse weekly publication distributed throught the Lansing area at libraries, grocery stores, etc.The 1st Savage Love article is not appropriate for children who have easy access to the Lansing City Pulse.As a47 year old woman who is a wife and mother, I thought the Savage Love subject matter was for adult only and not for general public.Please keep in mindvery young minds are reading the Lansing City Pulse since available at public libraries.Savage Love column is not appropriate for your publication's general audience.Please protect children andremove the Savage Love column because not appropriate for all ages reading.

— Beth Bechtel

Haslett

I'm writing to let you know how disappointed I am in the Pulse for choosing to run Dan Savage's syndicated column “Savage Love.” As a regular reader, I’m requesting that you reconsider this decision and replace the column with something more beneficial to the community.
I sincerely appreciate having a media source that highlights alternative perspectives and gives voice to views that might not have a forum in the mainstream press. But some things are left out of the mainstream press for good reason. I can't see any value in promulgating Savage's bad advice delivered in such a self-indulgent, lurid, quasi-pornographic manner. Already, on day one, we get this gem: "I can't even come in a girl's p*ssy without sneaking a finger in the back door." Seriously? Savage has no respect for his audience and no respect for human sexuality as anything other than a source of pleasure for the individual.
You should take his column out of your paper and you should do it now.

— Jeremy Dowsett

Lansing

I am one of your weekly readers that often turned to quickly read the Ask Amy (The Advice Goddess) before getting to other articles. I was very sad to see that she was no longer in the paper, and Savage Love from my perspective is a waste of space. Not impressed by the writing, remarks or even questions. At times I've been offended at your advertising on the back of your paper, having to explain to my kids, why there are half dressed, oddly positioned women advertising clothing--but Amy's column, was witty, smart and offered a female perspective that was balanced, humorous and insightful. If my 8 year old daughter chose to read it, then I'm guessing there would be some explaining to do, but it would be thought provoking.
Savage Dan offers none of that andmakes me question the decision to switch to him as you celebrate 11 years in Lansing.I'd much rather send an email of congratulations, and perhaps I'll be able to, if you reverse course (guessing there might be other disappointed readers) and remain a paper for "the rest of us"--including more female perspectives.In looking through this week's articles all but two of the twelve are written by males. Perhaps its always been that off balance, but I never counted or concerned myself with that before. I think getting rid of Amy feels a bit like a betrayal and is a huge disappointment.
I put up with explaining about the back cover to my three kids (1 girl and 2 boys), but don't know that I'll be interested in picking one up, or going back into Meijer to find the City Pulse; if I'm not guaranteed a chuckle, a smile or a "Hey you've got to read this" to my husband,in each edition.
Please reconsider.

— Stephanie Hirchert-Walton

Lansing