Dr. Ruth is right! We've been married for 40 years and have date night twice a week. I told a millennial friend that we couldn't get together with him and his girlfriend on a Friday because it was date night. He had no idea what I was talking about and when I explained, he looked puzzled. If you want your marriage to stay hot, make your sex life a priority. Spontaneous or planned doesn't matter. It's all good.
Posted by Kathy, Fred's wife and lover
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I love my husband but would rather go to bed with a good book.
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People didn't talk about sex in the '80s? Hardly!
All kinds of people have talked about sex in every decade. I have letters from my Germanic grandfather to my WASP grandmother in the 1920s -- after they'd had four children -- with explicit language recalling their mutual sexual development and still growing understanding. They would arouse passion in anyone.
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No one on their death bed ever said, "I wish I had less sex in my life."
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"Size does not matter. Except if it’s minuscule."
This is why I love Dr. Ruth!
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Thank you Dr. Ruth for making sex such a wonderful topic. I gave my son your book Dr. Ruth talks to kids when he was 8 years old, he's 15 now and has suggested his girlfriend read it. Very informative. Cant wait to see the movie! Best, Claudia
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I watched her show growing up and often made my mom laugh with an imitation of her saying “penetration!”.
She’s an icon and god bless her!
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What a charming lady !
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Thank you NY Times and Dr. Ruth!...at 72 years young, raised up in the NYC area, i was impressed with Dr. Ruth's humorous, realistic open-minded approach to sexuality...the response from my Mother Helen and Father Sol "Chuck" Goldberg (their Blessed Memory, may they Rest in Peace!) should not have surprised me!...as we were "trying" to be Orthodox Jews, they were NOT impressed!...maybe my Father (WW2, D-day Army Veteran) was, but he had to hold back to avoid an explosive reaction from his dearly beloved wife Helen of 60+ years, "Mount Saint Helens"!...even though my Mother and Father shared Dr. Ruth's and the Jewish tradition (The Talmud) of using humor to help remember a lesson, Dr. Ruth's approach was no laughing matter for them!...it was not until i went away to school in the Bible Belts of Iowa (1965-70) and Florida (1983-2000) working as a teacher/staff trainer with the Dept. of Corrections there in DeSoto County, Klan territory, did i realize that certain old, not open for debate, long-held religious beliefs (vigorously defended!!!) were like the "law of the land"...the humorous comments that were made among like-minded friends, out of ear shot of those NOT laughing, were like Dr. Ruth's point of view!...and although we are now in a supposedly more open-minded society, for some that is NOT the case! Thank you Dr. Ruth for your bold, courageous, realistic, humorous, and so long-running enlightened educational approach to sex,"without which we would NOT be here"!
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"People didn’t talk much about sex in the 1980s — at least not openly." Huh? Yes they did! Did a millennial write this article? Yep.
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Hit songs of the 1980s: “Like A Virgin” by Madonna and “I Want Your Sex” by George Michael. Right, we never talked about it ;)
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I didn't understand that either. I thought it was a typo and they meant to say the 1950s!
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@Hmm
I wonder if she meant families and in discussions amongst parents-children or even in groups of friends.
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This made me chuckle.
For decades the sex message has been dominated by negativity, well, at least for sex outside the proscribed marital union (I am 60 and clearly remember the negativity). Sex was bad (unless married then it was now your duty). Sex led to disease such as AIDS, syphilis, HPV, etc . Recreational sex led to unhappiness, madness then to suicide. Sex turned people (especially women) into sluts that no man would marry. And on and on. Good people did not engage in sexual activity outside a legal marriage, bad people did.
Now the reverse seems to be happening - have more sex! It is good for you and society! Why aren't you youngsters having more sex (will this quickly turn to "it is your duty to have sex" once again?)? Think of our future!
Very interesting.
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I attended the NY Times talk with her and Jennifer Senior last week and enjoyed it tremendously. She is such a delight - so funny and incredibly smart. Tiny in stature yet manages to be a giant presence anyway. I just love her. And I hope everyone takes the advice she gave us that night after being asked about the rise in anti-Semitism: to see the Auschwitz exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. Now more than ever, we must.
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