{"id":2445564,"date":"2019-06-20T21:36:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T03:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspen-ideas-fest-dr-ruth-still-engaging-in-good-conversations\/"},"modified":"2019-06-20T21:36:01","modified_gmt":"2019-06-21T03:36:01","slug":"aspen-ideas-fest-dr-ruth-still-engaging-in-good-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspen-ideas-fest-dr-ruth-still-engaging-in-good-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Ideas Fest: Dr. Ruth still engaging in good conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When asked for details about her own sex life, the response from the venerable Dr. Ruth Westheimer will invariably be a swift \u201cnext question.\u201d Other than that, though, there\u2019s no topic or query that surprises or embarrasses her. And really, there are few subjects on which she has little to say.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s precisely because of the depth of her opinions, expertise and long and storied career that Dr. Ruth is the subject of a new documentary, \u201cAsk Dr. Ruth,\u201d which will be screened tonight at Paepcke Auditorium as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival, followed by a panel discussion that includes the esteemed sex therapist herself.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not her first foray into film, yet it marks the first time the larger-than-life, pint-size German-Jewish immigrant has gone deep about losing her parents in the Holocaust and surviving it herself, plus a stint as a gunner in the Israeli army. She previously executive-produced documentaries on family values through the lens of grandparents in 1970s communist Russia, and another one that focused on Jews in Ethiopia. Both are still being screened in the classes she continues teaching at Columbia Teachers College in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go to Israel every year, and the reason I did those films instead of just being on vacation is so I can teach about different cultures and how they deal with family values,\u201d Dr. Ruth said Wednesday from her home in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

In fact, Dr. Ruth attributes much of her success to her unending focus on family and religious values. She sees the relationship between them and sex as an evolving one, even if for her, the connection has been a constant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very Jewish and in the Jewish tradition, sex has never been a sin,\u201d she said. \u201cI have no problem (talking about sex) because in Judaism, it\u2019s always been an obligation for a husband to have sex with his wife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Ruth has arguably led much of the charge about not just changing but also loosening conversations about sex and the language of sexuality. She says people are now more open on the topic and using the language surrounding it \u201cmore correctly,\u201d including how expectant women these days are referred to as \u201cpregnant\u201d instead of the more old-fashioned \u201cwith child.\u201d<\/p>\n

While her name instantly conjures up things like premature ejaculation and sex toys, Dr. Ruth has been deeply entrenched in the feminist movement for decades, even if she bristles at being called the F-word.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Feminist\u2019 implies \u2018radical,\u2019 like bra burning,\u201d Dr. Ruth said. \u201cBut my daughter and granddaughter are right: I am a feminist. I want to engage in good discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll inspire even more dialogue next month when celebrating the release of the newest edition of \u201cSex for Dummies,\u201d which she wrote with Pierre A. Lehu. New in the fourth volume of the popular book is her concern for millennials.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not against the (smartphone), but only if it\u2019s not a substitute for time spent and good conversation,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned about loneliness: Millennials are losing the art of conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communication is so integral to Dr. Ruth yet she shies away from politics. Still, she feels strongly that everyone should go \u2014 twice \u2014 to New York City\u2019s Museum of Jewish heritage, where she sits on the board, and the new \u201cAuschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away.\u201d exhibit on the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you go once (to the Auschwitz exhibit), you\u2019ll be upset. The second time you\u2019ll learn. It\u2019s really like a graveyard for my parents \u2014 for the people who don\u2019t have graves.\u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend isn\u2019t Dr. Ruth\u2019s first time in Aspen. A former avid hiker and skier, she knows Colorado well, claiming her most beloved memories occurred east of Aspen in some place called Vail.<\/p>\n

\u201cChina Bowl was always my favorite to ski,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can tell that to the people in Aspen; it\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When asked for details about her own sex life, the response from the venerable Dr. Ruth Westheimer will invariably be a swift \u201cnext question.\u201d Other than that, though, there\u2019s no topic or query that surprises or embarrasses her. And really, there are few subjects on which she has little to say. It\u2019s precisely because of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2445564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 02:45:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}