Agony aunt

An agony aunt is an advice columnist at a magazine or newspaper. The image presented was originally of an older women providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt".

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An agony aunt answers readers' queries on personal problems, in particular giving advice about sexual problems. In many cases, the queries, as well as the answers, have been created in the office, and the agony aunt is actually a team of writers. Marjorie Proops's name appeared (with photo) long after she retired. The nominal writer may be a pseudonym, or in effect a brand name; the accompanying picture may bear little resemblance to the actual author.

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The term is beginning to fall into disuse, as the scope of personal advice has broadened, to include overtly sexual matters - pioneered by the likes of Dr. Ruth - as well as general lifestyle issues. The hold of the individual has been reduced as the columnar "readers' questions" style has spread to almost every periodical publication.

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The genre has also spread to the Internet, with most of the major writers / teams having their own sites, or space on magazine and newspaper websites; new web-based columns have also appeared.

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Magazine: A magazine is a periodical publication containing a variety of articles....

Newspaper: A newspaper is a lightweight and disposable publication, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, and may be published daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly. They are the oldest form of widespread information gathering and dispers...

Sexual problem: Redirect sexual dysfunction...

Agony aunt related Images and Photos (experimental)

Agony in the Garden	The Agony in the Garden	The Agony of Jacob c.1648-52	Faces Of Agony
Charley's Aunt	Charley's Aunt	The Agony and the Ecstasy 1965	Charley's Aunt 1930
What If Aunt May Had Died Instead? Cover: Spider-Man and Ben Parker	Charley's Aunt Jack Benny Kay Francis 1941	Travels With My Aunt (Remastered)	The Agony of "The Endurance " from "Expedition to the South Pole" by Ernest Shackleton 1914-1917