Review by Choice Review
American newspapers began targeting women readers in the 1890s as part of a transition from politically mobilizing readers to delivering consumers to advertisers. The first regular advice column appeared in the New York Evening Journal in 1898 as part of its women's page. Newspapers soon offered a variety of columns on topics ranging from fashion and homemaking to relationships, helping readers navigate a changing society while upholding traditional gender norms. Syndicated columns ran in hundreds of newspapers across the country, and many metropolitan dailies established local columns that sought to create a sense of community among readers, inviting them to share their experiences and counsel. Readers flooded advice columnists with letters and were answered either in print or by assistants. Though the imagined reader was generally white, one chapter explores the Chicago Defender's advice columnist, mentalist Princess Mysteria, who encouraged readers to demand respect and make choices that would uplift both themselves and their race. Advice column readers sought empathy, counsel, and a sense of community in an increasingly anonymous society. Golia (New York Public Library) concludes with a discussion of how social media and online communities have taken up this role today. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. --Jon Bekken, Albright College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
