Popular Culture’s Perceptions of Sexuality and Elderly People

Naturally, people appear to want to and feel the neediness to be close to others in our everyday life. The desire to be around others especially sex partners changes as we grow, many people will want to have or continue an active, satisfying sex life but the age progression may cause some changes.

Safe Sex for Seniors

This ad conveys information on safe sex for seniors, it is open to a stage and in it there are multiple old people in their senior age displaying various sex positions.

These seniors are fully clothed and do not display any scene of nudity, so the ad can be on any basic cable. In 30 minutes, these seniors displayed about twenty-seven (27) sex positions. At some point some words will appear on the screen, the first one states, “In Florida alone STDs in seniors have risen to 71%”. Looking at the sexual scenes that the seniors are displaying and the words that comes up on the screen one might think the ad is against elderly people having sex, but this is completely opposite.

The ad is showing elderly people some ways of expressing and satisfying their sexual needs and creating some form of awareness of the safety risks associated with it. The second, third, and fourth words appears to talk about one thing. These words state “While there are many ways to do it. There’s only one way to do it safely. Use a condom.” The ad is trying to teach old people that they should be careful while enjoying their old age sex because they can attract STI or STD.

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Changes Among Men and Women

Physiologically normal aging result in some changes among men and women. These changes in one way or the other affect a person’s ability to have and to enjoy sexual intercourse with another person. Some women tend to love sex more as they grow older, but others do not. Women who may love to have sex more at older age may feel free to enjoy sex with no fear of unwanted pregnancy because of menopause. Some of the physical changes among old women and those that played a role in the ad are gray hair and wrinkles which can make them less attractive to their sexual partners. As women age, their vagina shortens and narrows, the walls become thinner and stiffer, this does not mean they cannot enjoy having sexual intercourse but in most cases, women will also experience less vagina lubrication which could make sexual intercourse less enjoyable for them. (“Sex and Aging”, n.d.). You could see in the ad that some of the old women were not really showing interest in having sex and finding it difficult do act or move in the position their partners wanted them to because of their physical fitness. Men also on the other hand have faces physical challenges which do not allow them to fully enjoy sex as they age. Studies shows that, impotency becomes common in men as the grow older. They loss the ability to have and to maintain their erection hard enough during sexual intercourse, the amount of ejaculation maybe smaller, they loss their erection after orgasm so quickly or it will take a longer time for them to possibly get erection again. It is believed that by age 65, about 25% of men experiences this problem at least one out of every four times they are having sexual intercourse. (“Sex and Aging”, n.d.). The ad displayed men trying to have more foreplay before sexual intercourse which demonstrate their inability get erection quickly.

Psychology

Psychologically, men tend to think about sex and feel sexual arousal more frequently than women. Stress, negative past experiences, anxiety, lifestyle demands, self-esteem issues, loss of loved ones, and relationship conflicts play a major role in older people sex lives. “The brain is the bodies most important sex organ”. (Harvard Health Publishing, “Attitudes about sexuality and aging”, n.d.). Many old couples find greater satisfaction in their early lives than they were young, in most cases it is because of either they are having enough privacy, no worries of getting pregnant, and more intimacy with lifelong partner. (“Sexuality in Latter Life”, n.d.). Men in their old age usually face the problem of “performance anxiety”, they would want to still be sexually active to impress their partners, but they might be having difficulty in getting erection which may lead to emotional discomfort. Women on the other hand enjoy their old age sex without any fear of getting pregnant because of menopause and do not have to worry about having menstruation. Women too can experience performance anxiety, when they think about their husbands watching their wrinkle body or potbelly and sagging breast can discourage them from thinking about having sexual intercourse.

Desexualized Older People

Society is inclined to desexualized older people. Whenever older people do demonstrate or communicate their sexuality, the society often viewed with mockery, for example the stereotype of the “dirty old man”. (Harvard Health Publishing, “Attitudes about sexuality and aging”, n.d.). Most people believe that sex is only for procreation or to have children, so once a woman passes that age having children, they do not see the need to fully expressing themselves sexually.

References

1. Sex and Aging. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/sex-aging
2. Harvard Health Publishing. (n.d.). Attitudes about sexuality and aging. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/attitudes-about-sexuality-and-aging
3. Sexuality in Later Life. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/sexuality-later-life
4. Q., Crisóstomo, M. A., Enéas, R. M., C., Figueirêdo, M. D., Lima, K. C., . . . Firmino, S. T. (n.d.). Social representations of sexuality for the elderly. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0034-71672015000400662&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en