by Susan Brinkmann
Staff Writer
(Feb. 18, 2008) One of America’s most popular advice columnists, Dear Abby, can no longer be trusted to promote traditional morality and is instead promoting moral relativism.
These are the findings in a new report by the Culture and Media Institute (CMI), a division of the Media Research Center, the media watchdog organization founded by L. Brent Bozell. After analyzing 365 Dear Abby columns published in 2007, CMI found that Abby routinely takes permissive stands on homosexuality, premarital and teen sex.
Thirty percent of Abby’s 2007 columns dealt with sex, and of that number, more than 58 percent rejected traditional morality.
“Ten addressed homosexuality, and never did Abby say homosexuality is morally wrong,” the report states. “Fifty-four addressed sex between unmarried adults, and only once did Abby say sex should be preceded by marriage. Twelve addressed teen sex, and only three columns advised abstinence. Twenty addressed other sexual activities such as nudism, stripping and crossdressing, and Abby’s attitude was consistently permissive.”
The Dear Abby column runs in 1,400 newspapers worldwide seven days a week and reaches approximately 110 million people every day. This is nearly three times the daily audience of ABC, CBS and NBC combined. It is one of the most widely syndicated column in the world and receives an average of 10,000 letters and e-mails a week.
Founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips, whose twin sister was Ann Landers, the current author of Dear Abby is Pauline’s daughter Jeanne Phillips.
“Phillips enjoys a tremendous platform to promote her beliefs on everything from wedding etiquette to handling the crazy uncle in the attic,” said the report.
However, Dear Abby is no longer “nightingale of sweet-sounding advice” most of us remember from 20 years ago. “Mixed into that ‘sweet-sounding advice’ is a dose of cultural poison” with many of her columns sounding more like those written by Dr. Ruth, the report states.
In one column, a reader who calls herself “Confused in Illinois” tells Abby that she has lost interest in relations with her husband and is now involved in a passionate sexual relationship with another woman. Abby’s advice to her was to “look on the bright side. At least you now finally understand what has been missing.”
Another question came from “Considering It”, a married man who wanted to take on a lover because his wife of 34 years was no longer interested in it. Abby advised him to ask his wife first, then said, “If it’s all right with her, it’s all right with me.”
Abby never says homosexuality is morally wrong and treats it as normal. In one column, a woman calling herself a “Distressed Aunt” asked Abby if she should “out” her nephew to his parents after finding an on-line profile that listed his sexua orientation as “bi.” Abby told her, “If your nephew were engaging in self-destructive behavior, I would say tell his parents.
However, identifying one’s sexual orientation doesn’t fall into that category.”
On October 10, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Abby endorsed same-sex “marriage.”
Dear Abby has long been known for referring teens to Planned Parenthood, an organization that once awarded Pauline Phillips with the Margaret Sanger Award, and of which present author Jeanne Phillips claims to have long been a supporter.
This association continues. In one 2007 column, a 17 year old teen asked if sleeping with six boys meant she was promiscuous. While Abby said yes, she says nothing to discourage the girl from continuing in this activity. Instead, she merely advises her to protect herself against unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and to “visit a Planned Parenthood clinic and learn about the real facts of life.”
This kind of advice is of serious concern because of the influence the column has had on its readers for three decades.
“As many as 20 million of Abby’s readers are under the age of 18,” the report states. “Millions of young men and women are forming their views on sex and relationships under the influence of a libertine advice columnist who is advancing anything but traditional values.”
To read the full report, visit www.cultureandmediainstitute.org
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