Posted on 01/07/2006 11:24:27 AM PST by ncountylee
Born slightly retarded, Rosemary Kennedy learned to read and write, and through her early 20s friends described her as bubbly and personable.
Her famous family, however, feared that Rosemary might get pregnant, catch a venereal disease, or otherwise embarrass the Kennedys. To prevent this, she became one of the first Americans to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy, having the frontal lobes of her brain surgically scraped off in 1942.
This resulted in Ms. Kennedy's paralysis, incoherence, and incontinence. She was institutionalized for the rest of her life, rarely mentioned by the Kennedys or by those who consider the family American royalty.
(Excerpt) Read more at nndb.com ...
They didn't want her to get married and split up the family wealth. The old man was a barbarian and so is his son.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
i've also heard that lobotomies are the only way to completely cure OCD and that they're becoming more widely used in extreme OCD cases.
If I recall correctly, the doctor who advised Kennedy to lobotomize his daughter was one of the most prominent neurosurgeons in the country.
Rich, Rich!
And we will all suffer through Teddy's comments during the next few weeks.
I think I read that he had this done and when it was over, he told his wife. IIRC, she was quite upset.
What makes you think he didn't?
I think lobotomies should be revived. They'd be an excellent way to deal with sexual predators. Castration-lobotomy combo would do the trick reliably, while leaving most of the perps sufficiently functional to hold down simple jobs so their continued existence wouldn't be on the taxpayers' dime.
Contrary to popular opinion, a lobotomy does not generally have the effects it is portrayed to have in the movies. Other types of psychosurgery could be devised, doubtless, that would do what you want.
What I've read is that she was sneaking out of her boarding school at night (along with other non- or less-retarded girls). Lobotomies pretty reliably eliminate the will/motivation to do much of anything. They figured she'd be more "manageable" if she had a lobotomy. Being "pious" Catholics, they refused to go for the obvious solution: have her sterilized, and don't worry about it if she occasionally slips away and manages to have S-E-X.
I've never seen any of the fictional movies which have featured characters who'd supposedly had lobotomies. What I have seen is interviews with real people who were subjected to lobotomies to control their "immoral" behavior (some gay, some "promiscuous" heterosexuals -- which in some cases simply meant a young woman who chose to have sex while unmarried). It worked -- they were no longer interested in any kind of sex, nor did they have much drive to do anything. I'm not a neurologist, but "lobotomy" is a catch-all term for a general type of procedure, which can vary substantially in terms of scope and location. Needless to say, with modern technology and knowledge, outcomes such as Rosemary Kennedy got would be rare to non-existent.
Look at the records of the Kennedy men who followed old Joe's example and abused wives.......For any of them to even speak of values is an abomination and the height of hypocrisy.
I am sick to death of the MSM adoration fast approaching worship of all of them.
Modern technology or not it just seems cruel.
Hope she finds happiness and peace in heaven.
I think there is another procedure to prevent pregnancy.
Catching a STD didn't seem to worry her brothers.
Poor kid.
You are very correct about "lobotomy" being a catch-all term. The effects can be apparently quite minimal or obviously extremely severe.
I agree with you....We have come so far in our treatment of the special needs population....in todays world she probably would have thrived.... RIP...she is now whole and complete in heaven....
So basically she was normal and she ended up brain dead. How sad!
Now there's an interesting bit of information.
I think Joseph Kennedy was accursed. He made his fortunes in illegal alcohol activities and money-under-the-table politics. And he was one of the very few fathers I've known who actually encouraged his sons to go into politics.
Needless to say, with modern technology and knowledge, outcomes such as Rosemary Kennedy got would be rare to non-existent.
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