Fad diets that drastically limit the kinds of foods followers can eat have been around for thousands of years — but this might be one of the least healthy we’ve ever seen. In 1962, writer and socialite Helen Gurley Brown published her hugely popular and controversial advice book Sex and the Single Girl: The Unmarried Woman’s Guide to Men. As the title implies, it was meant as a guidebook to young women looking to land a date (not a husband) in the Swinging Sixties, with suggestions including pretending to like sports and carrying a controversial book as a conversation starter.
HGB’s frank discussions of sex, careers for women, and even extramarital affairs left traditionalists clutching their pearls, but it caused a stir. The book stayed on bestseller lists for over a year, and the infamous diet resurfaced in Vogue 15 years later, in 1977, according to VICE. And because nothing is lost forever in the 21st century, thanks to the massive pop culture museum that is the internet, it later became a meme of how not to eat.
Helen recommended only following the diet for three days or a weekend — and we can see why.
According to her book, and a VICE writer who tried to follow the diet, it makes you “fuzzy.” No kidding:
PSA: Nutritionists do not recommend drinking two bottles of wine over two days.
They also don’t recommend that you eat nothing but eggs and steak, since you’re going to be missing out some key nutrients.
While this diet is bad for your health, it was probably very good at getting you drunk.
This is Helen Gurley Brown’s diet, no? She was rake thin. And drunk, I guess
— Emma Jacobs 💅 (@emmavj) May 4, 2019
In fairness, HGB is not the only one who sees wine as an essential part of any diet:
Yes, this is a joke — not actual nutritional information!
Back in the 1960s, HGB’s book caught on like wildfire.
It was made into a film, released in 1964, starring Natalie Wood (aka Maria from West Side Story).
Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis in a publicity photo for Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
— Bushman (@MrBushman1) May 11, 2019
Plot:
A womanizing reporter for a sleazy tabloid magazine impersonates his hen-pecked neighbor in order to get an expose on renowned psychologist Helen Gurley Brown. pic.twitter.com/cG1knZ3qj6
And HGB went on to become editor of Cosmopolitan magazine in 1965.
She held the position for 32 years, shifting Cosmo‘s focus from the high-brow literary world to fashion, sex, and money, targeting the young women of the ’60s who wanted to work hard and play hard, just like Helen.
This diet wasn’t the only advice Helen Gurley Brown dished out.
She might have been lousy at nutrition, but she was known for her hard work:
And for her tough love approach to making it in the world:
She had thoughts on everything from how you stood:
To how not to be boring:
Under HGB’s watch, Cosmo continued to publish crazy-sounding diets:
Note “The Drinking Girl’s Diet” in this cover from 1977!
This trend continued into the 21st century, as this 2014 cover shows…
Despite her controversies, she’s still a beloved figure to some:
that's great HOWEVER, I learned more from Helen Gurley Brown as did many women from my generation.
— Shadier Magnolia 👵🏻👩🎤🎶👼🏻🎹☕🍃 (@baumann_my) May 22, 2019
She was the BOMB!
And dieting advice aside, her book is a cult classic today (even if it is an ironic love).
It even has celebrity fans:
'Having It All' by Helen Gurley Brown is a masterpiece. Her dating advice? Fuck more. Her diet advice: Eat less. Her career advice: have one
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 13, 2009
The real story of her glamorous and eccentric world has inspired fiction:
We won’t be drinking our wine in place of actual food any time soon, but we’ll happily take inspiration from a woman who did what she wanted and changed the world at the same time.
