From Nazi Refugee to Sex Guru
How a Tiny Grandma Revolutionized America’s Intimate Conversations
It’s the 1980s. Ronald Reagan’s in the White House, everyone’s sporting shoulder pads, and America’s clutching its pearls over a pint-sized grandma talking about penises on national radio. Welcome to the era of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, folks!
Born Karola Ruth Siegel in 1928, little Ruth’s journey from Nazi Germany to America’s favorite sex therapist is wilder than your aunt’s bachelorette party. At 10, her parents shipped her off to Switzerland faster than you can say “Kindertransport,” unknowingly setting her on a path to become the world’s most unlikely sex expert.
While most teens were sneaking cigarettes, Ruth was chucking grenades for the Israeli army. That’s right, before she was teaching America about the birds and the bees, she was a sniper. Talk about foreplay! She could assemble and disassemble a machine gun faster than most of us can open a condom wrapper. Who knew those hand skills would come in handy later in life, huh?
But it wasn’t until she hit the airwaves with “Sexually Speaking” that Dr. Ruth really found her groove. Suddenly, Americans were tuning in to hear a tiny grandma with a thick German accent tell them how to spice up their love lives. It was like if your Nana started an OnlyFans, but with more sound advice and fewer…
