Husbands who have lost interest in sleeping with their wives were especially common in the 2010s. Whether it’s because they’re “addicted to adult porn movies” or have simply lost interest, sexually frigid husbands were the most common sex-related concern.

Well before more progressive stances were mainstream, Abby was a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights and freedoms, and readers frequently wrote questions pertaining to sex and homosexuality.

In earlier years, readers were somewhat more likely to write in to ask advice about abstaining from sex before marriage, particularly on how best to date.

Some of the most curious letters pertained to relatively unusual circumstances, such as a wife’s husband sleeping with her brother or a mother whose daughters share a husband.

In what is perhaps a result of greater societal openness, more and more letters in recent years stemmed from people seeking help in coping with sexual abuse.

As the internet began to grow in popularity, questions about pornographic content increased, particularly surrounding significant others’ questionable browsing habits.

Every so often, teenagers (or their parents) write in with concerns about being too young for sex.

Most adults today wouldn’t bat an eye at sexual content in media. For many years, however, the topic of sex in popular culture was a contentious one, as evinced by parents’ complaints in Dear Abby.

The topic of HIV/AIDS receives much less attention than it did three decades ago, when the disease first cut through the LGBTQ community. Many of the letters that Abby selected for print focused on misconceptions surrounding transmission, but also included panicked requests for assurances that the writer wasn’t at risk.

Although sex among the elderly hasn’t commonly been a topic for discussion, several Dear Abby readers have boasted about the benefits of amorous activity in their later years.