Agony aunt

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

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.

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.

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.

Typical format

A question is often asked in an anonymous form, with the name assuming the problem that is being expressed. For example, someone who is asking about erratic behaviour in their partner may sign off as "Confused, Johannesburg". Over the Internet, greater variation is often seen: the person's signature may still refer to the problem being expressed, but in a phrase, which the agony aunt abbreviates so as to spell an appropriate word, for instance, "Confused About My Partner" which would spell CAMP. Dan Savage uses this convention to comic effect in his Savage Love column.

Examples of Agony Aunts

Many advice columns are now syndicated and appear in countless newspapers. Such prominent examples include Dear Abby, Dear Ann Landers, and in a more modern form, Carolyn Hax's "Tell Me About It".

Related fiction

Inevitably the "Agony Aunt" has become the subject of fiction, often satirically or farcically. Versions of the form include:

An agony aunt who is really a man, and the complications that follow.
An agony aunt whose own personal problems and issues are more bizarre than those of her correspondents.

A notable example of the latter is the British TV sitcom Agony created by Anna Raeburn, starring Maureen Lipman as the agony aunt with an overbearing mother, an unreliable husband, neurotic gay neighbors, and a career in media surrounded by self-promoting bizarros. Anna Raeburn herself works as an agony aunt on radio call-in shows, much as the main character of the sitcom does.

Another classic example of the agony aunt in fiction appears in Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathaniel West.

Other uses of the term

The Agony Aunts, Dotsie and Sadie, are the chilling elderly enforcers of the Street of Negotiable Affection in author Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels.

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Typical format

Examples of Agony Aunts

Related fiction

Other uses of the term

See also