Dr. Ruth Reveals New “Stimulus Plan” for Dating

From the Department of Love and Relationships

Sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer was sworn in today as the honorary secretary of the Department of Love and Relationships.

Local tourism officials brought her to town to show off D.C.'s more romantic side, a la Barack and Michelle Obama's date nights that have focused more on local restaurants and culture, and less on K Street lawyers.

Before her swearing in, the diminutive Dr. Ruth -- she's 4'7" -- posed with wax figures of the Obamas, who towered over her. The figures were shipped over from Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum on F Street N.W.

Westheimer helped announce a new "stimulus plan," called Date Night D.C., a Web site that launched today to help both single and attached folks plan all sorts of dates on all sorts of budgets.

The site's Create a Date feature lets users select both the kind of person they're going with and the style they'd like (on a budget, luxe, romantic or wild card). You can also check out D.C.'s top 28 romantic spots, find singles' events and more.

Westheimer encouraged unattached folks to get out more and suggests D.C.'s free art galleries as especially, um, stimulating. "Look at the person next to you, and ... take the risk to ask the person next to you, if you found out that they're available..., and find [out] if they want to have a cup of coffee," she said. "Because the idea of having been already at a place, at having this kind of stimulus -- of looking at pictures and not being a couch potato, in front of a television or a computer -- already tells you something about that person."

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