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Too Modest for TV: Girls gone mild? Not for Dr. Phil.
Opinion Journal ^ | December 21, 2007 | WENDY SHALIT

Posted on 12/20/2007 10:11:12 PM PST by bahblahbah

Earlier this year, I got the call that every author pines for. Wendi Wan, a producer from the "Dr. Phil" show, alerted my publisher that the daytime pop psychologist wanted to design a program around my new book, "Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect and Find It's Not Bad to Be Good." They would need copies straightaway, and soon I was subjected to an hour-long interrogation. To my great relief, I passed the inquest, and my appearance on "Dr. Phil" was confirmed. Yet the producers required others to appear with me, and they needed my help. And so, for nearly two weeks, Ms. Wan was in almost daily contact as I recommended teenagers who were boycotting companies with crude marketing campaigns and girls who had made a public appeal for tummy-covering clothing. Pre-interviews with these young defenders of dignity were arranged, and the show started to make travel arrangements for me.

And then, just as suddenly as Ms. Wan had appeared in my life, like Mary Poppins she floated away. When my publicist finally got her on the phone, she learned that our show had been canceled. I was disappointed, but that's show business. The next day, a woman I knew asked if I could join her on "Dr. Phil"; they were filming a modesty segment, and she had been told to corral others to appear with her. Laughing, I realized that the show was still on--it was just happening without me. A producer later explained that "we don't typically have authors on the show because Dr. Phil [McGraw] is the expert."

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: ariellevy; booktour; culturewar; drphil; girlsgonemild; girlsgonewild; modesty; raunchculture; sexpositiveagenda; sexualizingchildren; teensex; wendyshalit
Dr. Phil has the authenticity of Jerry Springer, personality cult of Oprah, and credentials of Joel Osteen.
1 posted on 12/20/2007 10:11:13 PM PST by bahblahbah
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To: bahblahbah
Wendy Shalit and Ariel Levy don't much like the female raunch culture.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

2 posted on 12/20/2007 10:14:04 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: bahblahbah
YOU HAVE GOT TO STOP SLEEPING WITH YOUR SISTER.

Oh, sorry. Wrong show.

3 posted on 12/20/2007 10:15:53 PM PST by krb (If you're not outraged, people probably like having you around.)
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To: bahblahbah

And the intellect of a doorknob.


4 posted on 12/20/2007 10:24:12 PM PST by pissant (Duncan Hunter: Warrior, Statesman, Conservative)
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To: bahblahbah

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/frank-caliendo-as-dr-phil-in-his-new-tbs-sketch-show/3491735332


5 posted on 12/20/2007 10:26:11 PM PST by unspun (God save us from egos -- especially our own.)
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To: bahblahbah

Well, at least he’s a Republican.


6 posted on 12/20/2007 11:38:00 PM PST by Bushwacker777
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To: bahblahbah

Dr. Phil...doesn’t really come off as an intellectual to me.
What a shameful way to behave.


7 posted on 12/20/2007 11:56:10 PM PST by Sockdologer (Waiting patiently for the Democrats to solve the world's problems.)
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To: krb

HOW’S THAT WORKIN’ FOR YA?


8 posted on 12/21/2007 12:16:47 AM PST by Choose Ye This Day ("Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." -- Thomas Jefferson)
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To: bahblahbah
The dichotomy between prudish elders and wild young'uns turns out to be, on closer examination, largely adult dogma. Yes, many young people are rebelling--but today they rebel, increasingly, by upholding high standards in the face of the low ones promoted around them.

This is a key point, imo. Much of what we see in the news, particularly the constant promotion of promiscuity and perversion in schools, seems to be driven by adults who want to have sex with kids.

9 posted on 12/21/2007 3:15:17 AM PST by Tax-chick ("The keys to life are running and reading." ~ Will Smith)
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To: All

I hold anyone who insists people address him/her ‘Doctor’ have insecurities about themselves. These labels are set up to coach people into a subservient or respectful role
towards the degree-holder.

‘Dr.’ Phil has done much to smear the profession of psychological assistance and analysis in the privacy of
the traditional setting, not to mention the lives he has
exposed in breaking the sacrosanct rule of confidentiality while prostituting himself as a capable practitioner when the goal is not the patient but the financial reward.


10 posted on 12/21/2007 4:43:29 AM PST by imintrouble
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To: Tax-chick

I agree with this 100%; this point of Wendy Shalit’s (and tax chick’s elaboration) I’ve seen so often in my own life. The people who gave me the most trouble about being a virgin in college weren’t my fellow students, it was the professors. (Get over your hangups, etc.)


11 posted on 12/25/2007 1:47:04 PM PST by coffee.addict
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To: bahblahbah
dr. phil(th) and oafrah are just two more exhibits in the petting zoo of the fall of western society and culture.
12 posted on 12/25/2007 2:02:13 PM PST by Dr.Zoidberg (Mohammedanism - Bringing you only the best of the 6th century for fourteen hundred years.)
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To: coffee.addict

My 16-year-old daughter has a very clear perspective on young men: “Go f’ yourself! I have a life!” Probably has something to do with having five younger brothers :-).

Welcome to FR! (Or welcome back, if you useta be somebody else.) I think most of us are coffee addicts!


13 posted on 12/25/2007 2:04:27 PM PST by Tax-chick ("The keys to life are running and reading." ~ Will Smith)
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To: bahblahbah

Actually Dr. Phil is a serious guy when it comes to jury selection.


14 posted on 12/25/2007 2:06:45 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: bahblahbah

Dr. Dil(do) would be nothing if it weren’t for Oprah. I seem to recall he settled a sexual harassment suit with a young woman out of court, maybe somebody has the details on that and would like to share them.


15 posted on 12/25/2007 2:14:04 PM PST by Contra
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To: Contra

Actually, he’d still be a multi-millionaire jury consultant in Texas.


16 posted on 12/25/2007 2:15:35 PM PST by durasell (!)
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To: bahblahbah

Dr. Philth.


17 posted on 12/25/2007 2:28:21 PM PST by Crawdad (I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no class.)
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To: coffee.addict
The people who gave me the most trouble about being a virgin in college weren’t my fellow students, it was the professors. (Get over your hangups, etc.)

Followed by an invitation to a hot tub party at his house.

(I realize I made an assumption about gender here, but I've run into the type.)

18 posted on 12/25/2007 2:31:05 PM PST by delacoert
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To: delacoert

Yup! I was too naive, in my college years, to realize what was going on. I thought they admired my intellect.


19 posted on 12/25/2007 3:17:25 PM PST by Tax-chick ("The keys to life are running and reading." ~ Will Smith)
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