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The real-life doctor who was behind the sealed section of Dolly magazine has revealed the commonly asked questions she received from generations of girls.

For 23 years, Dr Melissa Kang, from Sydney, answered all your secret problems because you were too ‘embarrassed’ to talk to your mother or a doctor about them.

Speaking to ABC’s Throwback, Dr Kang offered a glimpse into the intimate handwritten letters she received from young anonymous readers before emails were a thing.

‘I got a lot of questions about periods and a lot about pubic hair – how to get rid of it, what to do with it and “is it okay to grow grey ones?”. There were lots of questions about masturbation – how to do it and what objects were safe or not safe to use. There were lots of questions about stretch marks and even one about kissing their boyfriend and getting their braces tangled,’ she said.

Dr Kang said she also received letters about relationships, school crushes, puberty and plenty of readers questioning their sexual attraction and orientation, shares Daily Mail.

‘I really felt like I was building some kind of relationship with them, even though they didn’t know me and I didn’t know them at all. I believed I was talking to an individual person, but also maybe half a million at the same time – it was a very weird feeling,’ she explained.

Dr Kang said when she got emotionally carried away after reading letter after letter, she had to remind herself she was a doctor, and not their mother.

‘Every single month when I wrote for Dolly I would have loved to give one great big collective hug because of the angst that was expressed. Sometimes that was an overwhelming feeling and I had to hold back in the way I responded because I was a semi-anonymous health professional, not their mother,’ she said.

‘One of the things people always ask me is “were those questions real?” Yes, every single one of them was actually sent in by a real young person,’ Dr Kang said.

Watch the episode on ABC iView HERE

Did you ever write into Dolly Doctor as a teen?

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  • Used to love dolly and the doctor section answered a lot of questions for me and I hope that this or a magazine similar is out when my girls are old enough.

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  • Dolly magazine just keeps on keeping on. Another generation enjoying their advice.

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  • Never ever wrote in but did read the section. A good forum for so many at the time.

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  • Interesting. How would you do if you got your braces tangled? It would be pretty difficult and very embarrassing to have to go to a dentist to get braces undone.

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  • Interesting that it was the same person for so long.

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  • I used to love Dolly magazine as a teenager.

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  • I never heard of this doctor or the article’s she wrote, but sounds like what she wrote was important for many. The possibility of asking a question anonymous feels for many people safe and hearing their question is not strange might help them to open up about it.


    • It was a good and safe forum and a chance for some teens that had no other way of getting information some answers.

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  • I never wrote in but always use to read it, when I was younger. I can’t believe it’s still going

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  • No and haven’t heard of it until now but it’s a very interesting magazine and I like the idea

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