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".

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, where the person may still sign as the problem being expressed, they may use a phrase where the agony aunt may abbreviate, spelling a word, for instance, "Confused About My Partner" which would spell CAMP.

Other uses of the term

Author Terry Pratchett uses agony aunt in quite another sense. It involves more of the word "agony".

See also

• Dear Abby
• Ann Landers
• Marjorie Proops
• Susan Quilliam
• Claire Rayner
• Dan Savage

External links

• Ask Anon
• Dr. Dave and Dr. Dee
• Go Ask Alice
• Dear Cupid