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".

Related Topics:
Magazine - Newspaper

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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.

Related Topics:
Sexual problem - Marjorie Proops - Pseudonym

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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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