In the light of Euince Kennedy's death, I'm still pissed about what happened to Rosemary

[Sequoia]

and the horrid and unforgivenable sin by her stupid, stupid evil father for what he did to her. He cursed his family by doing that because she was basically a free-spirit and couldn't live up to the family "expectations" so he had part of her brain cut out.

http://fatboy.cc/Rosemary.htm

[LadyoftheRabbits]

1. I read about her a little bit ago

It was terrifying. She had no choice, and the rest of her life was essentially taken from her.

[Sequoia]

2. Yes, her father was a putz.

He destroyed his family in so many ways. He didn't care on bit if he cheated on his wife and made sure his sons felt the same way about degrading women.

[Flaxbee]

3. I know. Really a tragedy, it appalls me that

Joseph Kennedy (or any male head-of-household in those days) could legally have something so drastic done to anyone, let alone his own child.

[hedgehog]

5. In reaction to stories like this, state laws were changed back in the

70's to make it very difficult to commit adults against their will or force any sort of treatment on them. The problem now is that families with adult children with schizophrenia can not protect their children from themselves. A family may arrange for a group home, but if the person would rather live on the street, very little can be done.

[Maccagirl]

8. I would hope that Rose never forgave him for not even

consulting her about such a life-altering procedure. I know in her memoir "Times to Remember" she said that what happened to Rosemary was the biggest tragedy of her life. Yes, if there is a hell, Joe Kennedy is spending eternity in the hottest region.

[hedgehog]

4. From what I've read elsewhere,Rosemary had become violent at times

and had attacked one of her grandfathers. It's not clear what her disability was but it seems to have involved impulse control as much as intelligence. She wasn't given a lobotomy because she wasn't smart enough but out of fear that she would hurt herself or others.

It's easy to look back and say Joe feared she would embarrass the family by getting pregnant. On the other hand Families today still worry about handicapped daughters being raped. How does someone give consent to sex when they don't understand the question?

The tragedy was that Joe Kennedy has access to the latest and greatest. There was nothing like the informed consent procedures we have today. He saw a problem and thought a simple operation would fix it. Many doctors praised the lobotomy because it was about the only procedure they had. Others did condemn it, but Portuguese physician and neurologist António Egas Moniz was given the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1949 for developing the surgery.

By all accounts, Joe Kennedy loved his children and was devastated by what he'd done to Rosemary.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Lobotomies were considered the latest and greatest, and the "best" doctor performed the procedure.

Walter Freeman was the most prominent American lobotomist and on the leading edge in introducing it to the U.S. -- Joe Kennedy probably thought that he was buying the best care. It was also a relatively new procedure in this country. It's easy for us to sit back and wonder what they were thinking to do this procedure so freely but we have the advantage of hindsight.

What shocks me is that the doctor continued to perform this operation for years after the horrible failure in Rosemary's case.

[hedgehog]

9. It shouldn't be forgotten that at the time, the "best" medical

advice for any child with a disability was to send them away to an institution and forget they existed. This advice was given to parents of children with epilepsy, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc. We owe a lot to Eunice Shriver for helping to change that attitude.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Killilea

[Gormy Cuss]

11. I know. The Special Olympics alone did so much to change attitudes.

I volunteered at events when I was a kid and I also played band concerts at the institution for mentally challenged children. The Special Olympics were a place where children were engaged, motivated, and proud of themselves. The institution was a sad place that was able to do little more than warehouse children with Down Syndrome and the like. It was a depressing experience.

[mitchum]

6. Yes, that cruel motherfucker punished her for merely acting like himself and her brothers

It makes me glad that Catholics believe in hell

[KamaAina]

10. I'm pissed about what is STILL happening to her

headlines like "Interest surges in mysterious Kennedy sister". :grr: :banghead: There was nothing "mysterious" about her. She had an intellectual disability. Like so many others, she was left to languish in an institution, in her case in Wisconsin, a thousand miles or so from Hyannisport. :eyes:

[Vidar]

12. Joe's long years trapped in a paralyzed body were richly deserved.