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What role did America's newspaper advice columnists play in shaping and forming societal attitudes toward LGBTQ people throughout the 20th century? They served the dual function of offering advice and satisfying the curious. They also often provided the first mention of homosexuality outside of newspaper crime blotters. More than 100 million readers regularly read the columns.
This book chronicles some of the most popular and widely circulated newspaper columns between the 1930s and 2000, including Ann Landers, Dear Abby, Helen Help Us!, Dr. Joyce Brothers, The Worry Clinic, Dear Meg, Ask Beth, and Savage Love. It examines the function of these columns regarding the place of LGBTQ people in America and what role they played in forming a public opinion. From these columns, we learn not only the framework of how straight Americans understood their homosexual brethren, but also how attitudes and feelings continued to evolve.
List of contents
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction
¿1.¿"Your Problems"-Ann Landers
¿2.¿"Dear Abby"-Abigail Van Buren
¿3.¿"Helen Help Us!"-Helen Bottel
¿4.¿"Ask Dr. Brothers"-Dr. Joyce Brothers
¿5.¿"The Worry Clinic"-Dr. George Crane
¿6.¿"Mary Haworth's Mail"-Mary Haworth
¿7.¿"Dear Meg"-Margaret Whitcomb
¿8.¿"Ask Beth"-Elizabeth Winship
¿9.¿"Tell Me About It"-Carolyn Hax
10.¿"Dear Prudence"-Herb Stein, Margo Howard, Emily Yoffe and Mallory Ortberg/Daniel Lavery
11.¿"Ask Amy"-Amy Dickinson
12.¿"Since You Asked"-Cary Tennis
13.¿"Savage Love"-Dan Savage
14.¿Other Columnists-The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Miss Manners (Judith Martin), Cullen Moore, Dr. Walter C. Alvarez, Lew and Joanne Koch, the Rev. Billy Graham, Dr. Michael Fox, Dr. Lawrence E. Lamb and Lori Gottlieb
Chapter Notes
Index
About the author
The late Andrew E. Stoner was a professor of communication studies at California State University, Sacramento, and the author of several nonfiction works, including biographies and true crime texts and had worked as both a newspaper reporter, and a communications expert in the public and private sectors.
Summary
What role did America's newspaper advice columnists play in shaping and forming societal attitudes toward LGBTQ people? This book examines the ideological function these columns may have served regarding the place and understanding of LGBTQ people and what role they may have played in creating a public opinion about the LGBTQ community.
