Agony-Resolution Pathways: How Women Perceive American Men in Cosmopolitan's Agony (Advice) Column

This paper uses a grounded theory approach to examine the perceptions and depictions of American men in Cosmopolitan's Agony (Advice) Column. A theoretical typology of “Agony-Resolution Pathways” is developed from the data. This theoretical typology generates several insights regarding gender relations. Theoretically, this paper fills the gap in gender studies in that it explores cross-gender perceptions and promotes a new engagement between the genders. Politically, this paper explores ways in which men can be constituted as subjects of advisory discourse regarding gender and/or relationship problems so that both genders can jointly “make sense of each other.”