Name: Dr. Ruth Tackles The Tough Questions About Sex | Letterman
Uploaded: 2022-04-08T22:22:20.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Dr. Ruth Tackles The Tough Questions About Sex | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-04-08. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Dr. Ruth Tackles The Tough Questions About Sex | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-04-08. Transcript available.

Thank you. Welcome back to the show. In the New York area, Dr. Ruth Westheimer
has become
somewhat of a cult figure. She is a professor of human sexuality at the New
York Hospital,
Cornell University Medical College. She is also the host of a very popular call-in
radio
program entitled Sexually Speaking. Please welcome Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
Nice to see you. Tell me about your radio program.
All right. I'll tell you about my radio program. It started with 15 minutes and
a quarter after midnight.
On Sundays.
On Sundays. And in order to know if we really talk about the things that are of
interest to people,
we ask people to write letters. And it mushroomed. And as of September, I'm on
the air a whole hour
live from 10 till 11. And I understand that about 653 phone calls come in that
hour.
But I can only answer about 25 to 30. And it's lots of fun. And I do think that
it's also of interest.
Yes. Well, it must be or you wouldn't have that kind of listenership. Now, for
people who are not
in New York City, tell me what happens. The people call in and what do they say?
What do they ask?
What happens is that very often I do read some letters that I think are of
interest in general. And then I do take some phone calls.
About?
About 20 phone calls.
No, no. But about what? About sex.
About sex.
Specifically, but not only about sex. About relationships. About sex education.
Plant care.
About plant parenthood. Contraception.
Plant parenthood. Yeah.
That's right. Very often I do immediately interrupt and I say, do you use
contraceptives?
Uh-huh.
And I like when, are you using contraceptives?
Uh, what I do like, I tell you, David, but I do like-
Yes, but only at parties.
Oh, I do like that, to think that it is a program that is serious because after
all, I have been an educator for 25 years.
Uh-huh.
But then it's also entertaining and I am very pleased when I hear somebody
saying, I have a question about my girlfriend.
I hope you will ask me a question about yours.
Okay.
And that when they say, we are using contraceptives without even waiting for me
to ask-
You'd like to hear that.
Yes.
Um, now let me, I just want to establish for once and for all, this is a live
radio program-
That's right.
New York City, New York City, the Big Apple, 8 million people. Do you get crank
phone calls, dirty phone calls, nasty calls?
Very interesting.
I, I do, it's called Sexually Speaking and it's W-Y-N-Y, it's part of NBC and I
really do not get any crank calls.
Now I do have a producer who is screening some calls, but I talk very
explicitly about sexual matters and I do-
How explicitly? Just let's-
How explicitly?
You, you, you really want how explicitly? For example-
Well, I tell you, we have some questions here. Maybe you can, uh, show us how,
yeah.
Okay. But I tell you, I do talk very explicitly, but I do think that the reason
we don't get crank calls, even so 85,300 people are listening, 85,300 people,
is because there is really a tremendous amount of need for this kind of sexual
literacy.
And calling, uh, and talking about intercourse, and talking about foreplay, and
about a penis, and vagina.
No, I'm being, I'm being silly. I'm being silly.
That's all right.
No, I'm being silly and I'll just, we'll just get on with this. I, I knew it
was, I knew it had to happen and I was just-
But what I, what we don't want to do-
Did you tell them that we didn't rehearse it?
No, we didn't rehearse this, but what we, what I don't want to do is make this
seem silly because it's not. It's very, and you're providing-
This is the first time that people really with any kind of anonymity can call
up and get this kind of information.
Yeah. All right. We have, uh, we distributed some questionnaires to the studio
audience. We'd like you to respond to these, if you don't mind.
Uh, is it abnormal for a 19 year old, uh, tell me if this is the kind of
question you get.
Is it abnormal for a 19 year old to be nervous around older women, uh, but to
be very attracted to them?
That's-
And this is from a 19 year old male.
Of course, of course.
Uh, that's a fantastic question, David, and I'll tell you why. What he really
wants to know, probably, and what I would generalize about that question is-
That it's perfectly all right to get erections, even at places where erections
are not called for, because he can't use that erection at that time, around
women in general.
Um, and if this particular 19 year old does feel a certain movement in his, um,
genitalia, that it's perfectly all right, he shouldn't worry about it.
I don't worry about it.
Okay.
If you just joined us, we're discussing elections.
This is also a very good question.
How do you know when it's the right time, age, et cetera, to make love to
someone?
A 17 year old female.
That's a terrific question.
When I get a question like this from a young person, I have a feeling that that
young person really would like somebody to say, hold it, wait a while, don't
let anybody pressure you into a sexual activity and wait for that inner voice
to tell you when it is the right time.
And the right time might be at the night of the wedding with that person that
you have chosen.
So when I see a question like this, I like this kind of relationship questions,
um, where I can say, don't get pressured into any sexual activity that you don't
feel comfortable with.
Do you, do you find that you get more questions dealing with relationships or
more questions dealing with, uh, sexual dysfunction?
I would say it's about, um, even.
Okay.
Oh, this is silly.
Who is the blonde who handed out the questionnaire?
Well, um, do you know any, do you know of any, no, I guess you get this a lot.
Do you know of any modern day aphrodisiacs?
Yes.
The only aphrodisiac needed is right between your ears.
It's in your mind.
It is nothing from the outside and it is not a substance to be taken.
It is just what you can do with your mind in order to get a good sexual
functioning.
Yeah.
This is, uh, fascinating.
I, um, this radio program, do people call up and snicker and giggle?
Uh, I mean.
That's a good question, David.
Even when I hear snickering, even when it's a question about somebody being
sexually aroused
by, uh, peanut butter, I answer it very seriously.
Mm-hmm.
Because there might be somebody out there who really has a question about fetishism.
Yeah.
And, um, I don't mind that there is giggle because I think that sexual activity
should be fun.
Yeah.
And it should be humor.
And that's why I'm here talking with you on this show.
Um, but I do answer it in terms of the, um, findings, the physiological and
research findings
in terms of the, um, sexual knowledge that we do have.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're terrific.
And, uh, I see now why the show is a huge success.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
I hope you listen to my show.
I'll do that.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
See you right there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.