Dr. Ruth Westheimer passed away today at the age of 96 years old. She helped to normalize talking about sex by talking about it so openly. And I am so grateful she did that because she opened the door for all of us to be more open about it.
Dr. Ruth did not have an easy life. When she was 10 years old, her parents sent her to Switzerland to escape Nazi Germany. That was the last time she saw them because they died in the concentration camps.
1956 she moved to America and got a master’s in sociology. But her life would change forever in 1980. That was the year that she got her radio show. It was such a huge sucess; she got a talk show.
From her talk shows and books, people got to hear someone talk about sex openly. That was something we were not used to. And it was just what we needed as the AIDS crisis hit America. She pushed safe sex, and we listened to her. She made wearing condoms cool. She made sex cool!
What Dr. Ruth was missing in height, she made up with her huge personality. And the world is a lot more dim without her.
But don’t remember her with sadness; remember her by asking someone a question about sex! Let’s keep talking about it to keep her spirit alive.
