To be shocked at the appalling treatment of Rosemary Kennedy?

[IfyouseeRitaMoreno]

And even more shocked that the Kennedys never suffered the consequences for what they did to her (well the father to be more precise).

I’ve just found out about her story and can’t stop being horrified. Sister to JFK, she had minor developmental issues, was considered mentally deficient because she had sexual liaisons (the horror!) as a teenager.

Her father, Joe Kennedy, took her without the consent of either her or her mother, for a secret lobotomy with a physician Dr James Watts. It left her unable to walk or speak. It gets worse...

So then they dump her in various institutions and barely visit her for 20 years. Her siblings tried to make up for it in some way (JFK passed a law to help mental illness and her sister introduced the Special Olympics) but her parents just abandoned her and NOTHING happened to the physicians Watts and Freedman who did this to her knowing the risks. Except of course that they went on to have illustrious successful careers.

I also read that 80% of lobotomies were performed on women which shocks me even more. Why?

Will someone else be shocked and horrified with me? I guess I’m just that they could do this to their daughter, cover it up, and face no reprisals.

[post edited by MNHQ to remove offensive language]

Wow, that is class. Poor Marilyn was definitely more sinned against than sinner - the men in her life all seemed to be bullies.

I'm a bit late to this topic but saw a documentary a few years ago about Rosemary and was utterly appalled.

Sadly I've forgotten which channel it was on but at least it was definitely a UK Freeview channel if that's any help and if I am remembering correctly they had samples of Rosemary's schoolwork showing that she was on a par with her classmates, was methodical in her working out etc so she was to all intents and purposes a normal schoolgirl.

Someone upthread mentioned that she had been presented to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and that is true, I've seen photographs of the event.

If Rosemary was as 'ill' as Joe tried to make out, why was she attending a fee paying school and meeting royalty, all on his dollar?

I think that Rosemary was quite possibly the brightest person in that poisonous family and quite rightly rebelled at all of the fuss and constraints that were forced on her.

In normal homes it would be viewed as the pretty normal rebellious teenage stage but Joe could not countenance such disobedience in case it tarnished his precious Kennedy name and he took the most evil actions in the hope of 'bringing her to heel' like she was a dog.

The Kennedy females have always been treated like accessories, sadly most have played along and the one that questioned it and tried to go her own way sadly ended up being abused in the most brutal fashion by her own Dad.

I also saw someone upthread getting their panties in a bunch because another poster suggested that karma was slowly but surely working it's way through the Kennedys'

Hopefully it is.

That family are mostly just a bunch of plague rats. Everything they scrabble over ends badly for everyone but them.

Rosemary
Marylin Monroe
Chappaquiddick

Worrying now - I used 'ill' because right now I have no idea what will or will not get Modded with this subject and didn't want my post to get deleted but don't want to offend anyone else either.

My parents tell everyone that I am 'ill'. I have Lyme Disease but think that 'ill' is oftentimes just a generic term that I hope is not offensive to anyone here.

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kendal, that’s a bit mean. They’re condemned for excluding Rosemary but also condemned when they included her?

The Kennedy’s were a family full of strong women who achieved and were resilient (Eunice, Ethel, Jackie, Kick, Jean). Even Joan was taken care of despite her understandable problems after having two children suffer cancer and repeated miscarriages.

Joe was devoted to his children and they to him.

@Geraldine170
I too love Jackie Kennedy.
A couple of years ago my husband bought me a copy of the auction catalogue of her possessions.
It told me more about Jackie than any of the ‘biographies’ of her I have read.

Kendal

That’s a really mean comment.
Rosemary was sent to a fee paying school ( as were all of the Kennedy children - I don’t know what your point is trying to make) because Joe and Rose wanted her to mix and develop skills. Rose spent HOURS with Rosemary teaching her how to do things so she could live as full a life as possible. They had her presented at court because they loved her and because she was simply a full time paid up member of their family, just as loved as Joe jr or Kick. It was quite something in those days that they had her with them and didn’t just hide her away.

The Kennedy females have not always ‘ been treated like accessories’! What a stupid, I’ll informed statement! I would advise you to read up on Rose Fitzgerald’s upbringing (try Doris Kearns Goodwin book) . Read what Eunice did in her lifetime. Jackie Kennedy Onassis didn’t do as she was told - she had her own mind and wasn’t afraid to stand up to Joe.

To say that “‘the one who tried to go her own way ended up being abused by her father......” is utterly wrong! The “one who tried to go her own way” was Kathleen and she did go her own way and had a great deal of fun before her tragic death (which was nothing to do with her dad ) but was still greatly loved and mourned by her family. Joe loved his kids and for a wealthy man of the time he was an incredible hands on dad spending a lot of time with them.

To wish that bad things happen to the current family because of the behaviour of some men between 50 and 70 years ago is frankly quite sick and cruel.

I was reading about Bobby Kennedy recently. He was a remarkable man and it sounds like he was the real loss to the world, not JFK.

Bobby Kennedy was a ruthless, driven operator but was also a man of his time who became increasingly radical in his professed views. He was as hard as nails. I think he would have been a very interesting President but I don't think he was all that different from Nixon in his morality, though much less mentally fragile.