Renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer has passed away at the age of 96.
Westheimer died Friday at her home in New York City, surrounded by her family, according to publicist and friend Pierre Lehu.
The diminutive sex therapist became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author thanks to her frank discussions of previously taboo bedroom topics.
Westheimer never advocated risky sexual behavior, but instead encouraged open dialogue about previously hidden issues that affected her audience of millions.
His recurring theme was that there was nothing to be ashamed of.
Renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer has passed away at the age of 96
“I still hold old-fashioned values and I’m a little bit conservative,” she told students at Michigan City High School in 2002. “Sex is a private art and a private matter. But still, it’s a subject we need to talk about.”
Westheimer’s cheerful, German-accented voice, coupled with her 1.40-metre height, made her an unlikely source of “sexual literacy” – both in appearance and sound. Contradiction was one of the keys to her success.
But it was his extensive knowledge and training, coupled with his humorous and non-judgemental style, that catapulted his local radio show, ‘Sexually Speaking’, into the national spotlight in the early 1980s.
She took a nonjudgmental attitude toward what two consenting adults did in the privacy of their home.
“Tell him you’re not going to make the initiative,” she told a concerned caller in June 1982. “Tell him that Dr. Westheimer said you’re not going to die if he doesn’t have sex for a week.”
Her success on the radio opened new doors for her and in 1983 she wrote the first of more than 40 books: “Dr. Ruth’s Guide to Good Sex,” in which she demystified sex with rationality and humor. She even published a board game, Dr. Ruth’s Good Sex Game.
Westheimer died Friday at her home in New York City, surrounded by her family.
The diminutive sex therapist became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author through her frank talk about once-taboo bedroom topics.
She soon became a regular on the late-night television talk show circuit, taking her personality to the national stage.
Her rise coincided with the early days of the AIDS epidemic, when talking openly about sex became a necessity.
“If we could talk about sexual activity the same way we talk about diet, the same way we talk about food, without it having that connotation that there’s something wrong, then we’d be a step ahead. But we’ve got to do it in good taste,” she told Johnny Carson in 1982.
She normalized the use of words like “penis” and “vagina” on radio and television, helped by her Jewish grandmother’s accent, which The Wall Street Journal said was “a cross between Henry Kissinger and Minnie Mouse.”
People magazine included her in its list of “The Most Intriguing People of the Century.”
Westheimer pictured with Ryan Seacrest at the 2019 Radio Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Gotham Hall on November 8, 2019
She even turned it into a Shania Twain song: “No, I don’t need proof to show me the truth/Not even Dr. Ruth gon’ tell me how I feel.”
Westheimer advocated abortion rights, suggested that older people have sex after a good night’s sleep, and was a strong advocate of condom use. She believed in monogamy.
In the 1980s, he championed gay men at the height of the AIDS epidemic and spoke out loudly on behalf of the LGBTQ community.
He said he was defending people considered “subhuman” by some far-right Christians because of their own past.
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