From the 1980s, the TV sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer's no-nonsense openness and sex positivity ushered in a new era for the US that made her a cultural icon. Dr Ruth, the television sex therapist, was more than a blip-in-time celebrity. When she died on 12 July at 96 , the obituaries called her a cultural icon for good reason.
Even people with only the fuzziest idea, or no idea at all, of who Ruth Westheimer was now live in a social world she helped create. The Netflix drama series Sex Education might not exist without her. Neither perhaps, would Showtime's Couples Therapy – or even all the ads for erectile dysfunction treatments so common on US TV today.
Beginning in 1980, Dr Ruth's popular radio and television shows – giving frank, humorous, detailed sexual advice – promoted the idea that sex is a healthy aspect of life and that conversations about sex should be brought into the open. She landed at just the right cultural moment, and was just the right wholesome, grandmotherly character to make that message work. Her openness marked a turning point in the acceptance of what is now called sex positivity.
From a 15-minute radio show called Sexually Speaking to a long stretch of television series including Good Sex! With Dr Ruth Westheimer, she gave blunt advice when no one else was, on everything from losing virginity to achieving orgasms and indulging in fantasies. "If you want to believe that a whole football team is in bed with you, that's fine," she said back in .