this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 137 points 4 months ago (7 children)

When Dr. Ruth Westheimer was just 9 years old, her father was taken away by the Gestapo. It was a week after Kristallnacht. Her mother was able to get her to safety in Switzerland a year later, but both of her parents were murdered in the Holocaust. Her father died at Auschwitz and there is no record of what happened to her mother.

Also, while you would never have expected this of her, she was trained as a sniper in the Israeli military (she never saw combat).

From Wikipedia:

Of this experience, she said, "I never killed anybody, but I know how to throw hand grenades and shoot."[28] She became an ace sniper, and learned to assemble a rifle in the dark.[22][12] When she was 90 years old, she demonstrated that she was still able to put together a Sten gun with her eyes closed.[29]

(Sorry, there does not appear to be video of that bit at the end.)

Yes, she was a Zionist, but I can't really blame her after what she went through and I never heard her advocate for any sort of mistreatment of Palestinians.

More importantly, she helped destigmatize sex in America and gave people a way to ask very frank sexual questions and get professional advice, rather than from Penthouse Forum or whatever. It helped that she didn't in any way fit into society's beauty standards for a woman- it showed that any kind of person could have an active and fulfilling sex life. She was also a very early advocate for AIDS research and was a major advocate for legalized abortion.

So she was a complicated person with a tragic past, but I think she left the world in a better place and I am glad she did so.

[–] Shou@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

She is a legend!

[–] BobGnarley@lemm.ee 12 points 4 months ago

Holy shit WHAT lol she had a wild life

[–] BetaBlake@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

The Forrest Gump of sex therapist

I mean that in the good way

[–] WhyDoYouPersist@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Thanks for the info

[–] drislands@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Well said. Thank you for sharing.

[–] IamSparticles@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If you ever get the chance to see it, Becoming Dr Ruth is a great one person play that details her life story. Our local theater group hosted it this year and we really enjoyed it.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I’ll bear that in mind, thanks!

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 29 points 4 months ago

RIP. A real trailblazer.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 28 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Wow, she was still alive? She seemed ancient in the 80s.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

She would have been in her 50s/60s in the 1980s. Maybe just your perspective?

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago (1 children)

She was only a radio personality at the time, and she sounded very old. She was on the KROQ morning show a lot.

[–] IamSparticles@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

She experienced a lot in her life and was wise beyond her years, which he is part of what made her so popular.

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Agreed. She was also frank, and not very judgemental about things that don't affect other people.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 23 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Let’s all rub one out for her.

[–] BetaBlake@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago

It's what she would want

[–] MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 5 points 4 months ago

going to be hard with that picture, but I'll give it my best shot

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

She was just a delight!

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

My ex-wife served her breakfast at a hotel in Schoharie NY many years ago. Her family owns Westheimer's Carrot Barn which is a huge farm and greenhouse business. I got my first job there at 14 years old picking parsnips.

[–] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I never knew her last name. I think I thought it was Ruth.

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

Dr. Ruth Ruth.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago

Technically, her first name isn’t Ruth either. It’s her middle name. She was born Karola Ruth Siegel.

[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

We almost had a holy trinity of celebrity deaths today.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Shannon Doherty died yesterday too

La grose mort.

[–] zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Did she host the Sunday night sex show?

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No, that was a Canadian show with Sue Johanson. They were both very good sex educators though. She died a year or two ago.

[–] zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com 2 points 4 months ago

Aw dang, I missed that. Very informative and fun

[–] BobGnarley@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago

Well, at least she had a very good time while she was here lol

[–] 100_kg_90_de_belin@feddit.it 2 points 4 months ago

That doesn't look like her body.

The torso used to be Dr Ruth.

Her head is on a pike in the chambers of horrors.