Why SNL's "Take Me Back" Skit Missed the Mark on STI Awareness

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A post shared by Emily L. Depasse MSW MEd (@sexelducation)

Sooo many of you reached out to me this weekend asking for my thoughts on @nbcsnl’s skit, “Take Me Back.”

First, I want to thank you. I don’t watch TV (I don’t even have a television) and I would have no idea that this happened. Two, thank you for your patience in my response. I never want to respond to something in a reactionary way, especially if I haven’t seen it myself.

I feel like SNL writers should read my previous post explaining why joking about STIs is problematic. Candidly, I’m not sure I have anything that can better summarize my feelings than that post. However, I do feel like it’s important for me to respond.

SNL, you fucked up. Not only are your writers’ “jokes” lacking in humor, they’re basically an extension of a bad sex education classroom. It’s not herpes that’s “bad”—it’s your sex education backgrounds 🤷🏻‍♀️.

In my response, I’m choosing to correct the information that SNL portrays as truth. I look to this as a teaching moment to highlight the importance of comprehensive sex education—which none of these writers clearly received. @nbcsnl hire me!?

For more on this specific topic, please check out my friend Ella Dawson’s (@brosandprose) posts, as well as her new piece on Patreon, “ASK ELLA: Are Herpes Jokes Ever Funny?”

Feel free to use the comments to tag (and drag)SNL for this one.