Advice Columns

[ivy]

Oct 6, 2008 17:47:23 GMT -4 @cantienne said:

Oh, Sassy. I loved that magazine. A shame that its editors all went on to be very annoying fashion writers.

One of them (Christina Kelly) actually went on to run YM magazine! I found this totally ironic because the writers at Sassy were always saying how lame and sexist YM was. (Which it was.)

I remember one time in the advice column they kept spelling "really" as "rilly". I loved the girl who wrote in to ask, "I just want to know what is wrong with the *ril* spelling."

[chonies]

Oct 8, 2008 1:25:17 GMT -4 @ivy said:

Oct 6, 2008 17:47:23 GMT -4 @cantienne said:

Oh, Sassy. I loved that magazine. A shame that its editors all went on to be very annoying fashion writers.

One of them (Christina Kelly) actually went on to run YM magazine! I found this totally ironic because the writers at Sassy were always saying how lame and sexist YM was. (Which it was.)

Well, to her credit, Christina worked really hard to try to turn YM around--not into Sassy 2.0, but it was somewhat different than it had been when I was a teen. I don't think she was there long, but I totally admire CK for taking on the challenge.

[ivy]

Yeah, I know she tried to fix it up, but it still seems crazy ironic to me; her obsession of hating YM always bugged me about her. I was like, "Okay, YM is a piece of crap, we get it, please move on!"

[Peggy Lane]

I still think Lucky is the best post-Sassy project any of the Sassy staff went on to do. Lucky is nothing but naked consumerism, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else.

[chonies]

Oct 12, 2008 14:46:38 GMT -4 Peggy Lane said:

I still think Lucky is the best post-Sassy project any of the Sassy staff went on to do. Lucky is nothing but naked consumerism, but it doesn't pretend to be anything else.

I agree. When it launched, Kim France said, "why should we have a news column? Women get their news from the same place men do." Also, in a way, I think the local shopping feature about boutiques in cities across the country and world helps emphasize local shopping and local business owners. It's clearly not on par with supporting a local farmers' market, but it definitely makes a small point.

Back to topic: I loved the Carolyn Hax column about her mom a few days back. I think it summed up life advice: be yourself, speak out, accept the shortcomings of others.

[divasahm]

Once again, Dear Abby has managed to tick me off (and by "Dear Abby", I mean her daughter Jeanne Phillips who has taken over the column).

Today's column features a letter from a 16-year-old girl whose friends have told her that her anger sometimes frightens and intimidates them. The girl was shocked by their comments, although she admits that her mom sometimes calls her "Tammy Tantrum". She asked for advice on to deal with this problem.

Jeanne gives her nothing but an long, boring essay on the importance of anger as an outlet and the equal importance of controlling anger as an adult. Beyond "step up and take control", there are no constructive or specific suggestions on how to do just that. No "talk to your school counselor", no "ask your mom to help you find ways to channel your anger", no nothing. It's absolutely the least helpful answer she's ever given, and that's saying a lot.

I wonder if her syndication numbers are as high as her mom's were, or if papers are dropping her because of the sheer lack of helpfulness and humor that were her mom's trademark.

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2009 15:26:26 GMT -4 divasahm said:

Jeanne gives her nothing but an long, boring essay on the importance of anger as an outlet and the equal importance of controlling anger as an adult. Beyond "step up and take control", there are no constructive or specific suggestions on how to do just that. No "talk to your school counselor", no "ask your mom to help you find ways to channel your anger", no nothing. It's absolutely the least helpful answer she's ever given, and that's saying a lot.

Oh, she gives a specific answer: send money and order my booklet! Very helpful.

[smockery]

Yeah, that was pretty dang annoying.

[Ellen Tigh]

Today's Dear Prudence is the strangest thing I've ever seen in any advice column: My college pal supposedly killed himself, but I suspect foul play.

[Deleted]

Todays Abby really grossed me out when a guy in his 60's I think wrote about the thong issue by talking about how his pretty sisters wore such pretty nylon panties with designs on them. I think he has thought way too much about his sisters panties if he remembers the designs after all these years.