When I grow up, I want to be Dr. Ruth
In May 2019, Hulu released a documentary called Ask Dr. Ruth, directed by Ryan White. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend you take the time to see it.
This story chronicles Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s life with a touching background of her youth in Germany and Switzerland. It goes on to tell about her young adult life in Israel, and France. She came to America in 1956 on a boat in fourth class. Dr. Ruth said “The Statue of Liberty was a symbol of freedom to refugees.”
In 1958, her and her second husband divorced, and she was a single mother in New York, a time when that was not widely accepted. Family planning has always been important to Dr. Ruth, and in 1967 she worked at the East Harlem Planned Parenthood. She went on to earn her Doctorate at age 42. During her studies, she met Helen Singer Kaplan, a Sex Therapist at Cornell. From there, her career took off!
In the early 1980s, Dr. Ruth went on the radio to talk about Sex Education in a segment titled Sexually Speaking. This aired on Sunday nights at midnight, but soon became very popular and lead to her first book. From book talks to television appearances, which eventually promoted her own show, Dr. Ruth was just what the world needed.
A more comprehensive Sex Education is something I am passionate about, and I hope I can help by following in Dr. Ruth’s footsteps.
