Well it’s been a while since I’ve written any angry letters to the editor.
Probably since I canceled that subscription to Rolling Stone. Thanks, mom, for that free gift subscription to TV Guide.
This appeared in the Water Cooler section of the magazine, which listed the “Top 10 moments that had us talking in 2009” (trigger warning):
Mackenzie Phillips’ Bombshell
Some things should never be spoken of, but that didn’t stop the former One Day at a Time star from going on Oprah to tell all about her drugged-out, decade-long affair with rocker dad John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas. Grody to the max.
I responded with an email both to the writer Ingela Ratledge and the letters section of the magazine:
“Some things should never be spoken of”? Yes, Ingela, Mackenzie Phillips being raped by her father is in fact “grody,” but statements such as these are exactly what keep incest survivors ashamed and suffering in silence, for well-founded fear that they will be reviled, blamed, and hushed if they speak out. Your comments were grossly irresponsible. The only thing more disgusting and reproachable is that your editor saw fit to print them. Perhaps everyone at TV Guide should check out the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN.org) for some desperately needed education about sexual violence, and information about how sweeping that violence under the rug both allows it to continue and increases victim suffering.
I doubt it will be printed, but if you’d like to write such a letter of your own, the author can be reached at iijm@tvguidemagazine.com, and letters can be sent to letters@tvguidemagazine.com (include your name, address, and phone number if you want that letter to be printed). And if you missed them, I wrote much longer rants about this kind of response to Mackenzie Phillips’ decision to speak out both here and here.
