Question: Is it dangerous to have sex in the water? Answer: It is if you can’t swim.
By: Jeff Milgram
On Monday, the topic in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs’ Dodds Auditorium was the war in Iraq.
On Wednesday, the subject was AIDS.
On Thursday, the topics were masturbation, abortion, pregnancy and premature ejaculation.
"This is a very good time to think about the birds and the bees," said Professor Froma Zeitlin, chairwoman of the Program in Jewish Studies, as she introduced the speaker, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, known as the multi-media psychosexual therapist Dr. Ruth.
Dr. Ruth teaches a course at Princeton University on "The Family in Jewish Tradition."
At 4-feet-7, Dr. Ruth needed a stool so she could see the audience over the podium. With the stool, she stood about 6 feet tall.
There were many people to see. Dodds Auditorium was wall-to-wall with students and senior citizens.
With her characteristic German accent, Dr. Ruth said, "In the Jewish tradition, it is said a lesson taught with humor is a lesson retained."
And then she went on with a story about a lecture she gave in Ottawa, Canada.
"I was asked if it’s dangerous to have sex in the water and I said it is if you can’t swim," said Dr. Ruth, who describes herself as "old-fashioned and a square."
Dr. Ruth said attitudes about sex have changed dramatically since Victorian times.
"The attitudes toward sexuality starts when a baby is born," she said.
Dr. Ruth proceeded to take up a subject few lecturers at Dodds rarely discuss in public: masturbation.
She mentioned the myths surrounding it, especially the one that boys who masturbate grow hair on their palms.
"I spoke at Harvard Law School and a bunch of lawyers looked at their palms," Dr. Ruth said.
Sex, she said, should remain a private matter.
She then turned her attention to the myths of pregnancy.
"We have less unintended pregnancies," Dr. Ruth said. "We still have too many."
On abortion, she said, "In my way of thinking, abortion must remain legal … not as contraception, but when there’s a contraceptive failure."
On other topics, Dr. Ruth said:
"We don’t know the reasons for homosexuality."
"Everyone who starts a new sexual relationship has to worry about sexually transmitted diseases."
On the Masters and Johnson clinical study of American sexual activities: "Everything that could be measured was measured."
"Size has nothing to do with the sexual satisfaction of a woman, unless it’s a minuscule one."
"If a couple engages in sex at the same time in the week and in the same position, it becomes boring."