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Tell Me Something Good ~ Sex and Relationships After Sixty-Five
How are sexuality and relationships measured?
“’Subjective sexual well-being' refers to the perceived quality of satisfaction with the person’s sexual life and relationships (Laumann, Das, & Waite, 2008; Laumann et al., 2006; Laumann, Paik, & Rosen, 1999)”
Work It?
The reasons for sexual decline in late adulthood have to do with both the physical and psychological. Physiological changes also affect how well a couple can achieve intimacy on a practical level but more than half of people in late adulthood have had sexual problems have sought medical help of this nature. In fact, these physical changes in men and women aren't shown to be significant stumbling blocks. What seems to stop people from sexual intimacy when they experience physical changes related to aging seem to be based in the youth-worship culture. The physiological changes remind people of their aging and mortality. Not surprisingly, that can be a major turn off. If this stumbling block is overcome, subjective sexual well-being can still be achieved despite physical sexual changes.
(Laumann, Das, & Waite, 2008; Laumann et al., 2006; Laumann, Paik, & Rosen, 1999)
The Sexual Statistic
What are people getting up to when they get down?
Looking to the traditional vaginal intercourse as our baseline statistic we can see that more than half of men over sixty are still having sex. By contrast, only 42% of women over sixty are having sex. Why is that? The answer can be found in the relationship statistics.
Coupled Up
71.4% of men over 65 are married.
43.4% of women over are married.
~Compare that with the widowhood numbers~
13.8% of men are widowers.
43.4% of women are widows.
Women on average live longer than men and marry men 2.6 years older than they are. As a result, the sex acts numbers are skewed because married couples are having more sex and more women are widows than men.
Interestingly, nonconventional relationships still make up a significant percentage of people over sixty.
2% are cohabitating
19.5% are divorced
2.3% are seperated
9.4% never married
LGBTQ
Very little information has been gathered on LGBTQ people late in life sexuality. One theory is that a "lifetime of victimization" has made them less likely to open up to researchers and disclose do to possible homophobic or violent consequences in their past. However, on theory states that because of the struggles of growing up and living life as an LGBTQ person, those on the spectrum are more prepared for the struggles of transition from middle to late adulthood.
(Delatemer & Koespel, 2014)
Coupled Up
Regular intimacy is actually good for you, especially if you’re in late adulthood. (Burgess, Harvey, Wenzel, & Sprecher, 2004) (Edwards, Booth, & Rossi, 1994).
What Does Intimacy Help With?
Intimacy...
- lowers depression
- improves heart health
- raises self-esteem
- keeps relationships in good shape
(DeLamater & Koepsel, 2014)
Sex Avengers vs Senior STIs
As Leslie Knope and her Sex Avengers stated, STI rates among seniors is steadily and rapidly rising. According to the Center for Disease Control’s reports, by 2015 adults in the late adulthood community will constitute about half the new cases of HIV cases. CDC studies also show that women will are most likely catch it from vaginal sex while men are most likely to contract HIV from anal sex, just like their earlier life counterparts. Age does not exempt one from the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
(DeLamater & Koepsel, 2014)
Reason 1
Late adulthood is lasting longer and people are healthier during that time. As such sexual desire continues for on average 10 years for men and 5-7 years for women after age 65.
(DeLamater & Koepsel, 2014)
Reason 2
Viagra's advent in 1998 allowed more men to become physically capable of sex making them and their partners once
again at risk for any and all STIs.
(Emanuel, 2014)
Reason 3
Living in the close-knit spaces with people of a similar age in retirement homes also fosters an increase in sexual activity. With this increase, the STI rate increased as welll.
(Emanuel, 2014)
Reason 4
Many in late adulthood have little knowledge of age-appropriate prophylactic use due to poor or out-of-date sex education that was birth-control oriented and did not did not focus on disease prevention.
(Emanuel, 2014)
The clip gave a great example of the gap in STI focused sex-ed. The Golden Girls don't know that while sheep skin condoms are great for birth control, they are not very effecting for preventing the transfer of STIs including the virus HIV.
http://www.fabulousfaces.com/lib/upload/lrr1518.jpg
All Good Things Must Come To An End
When people lose their desire, drive, or just flat out stop having sex for whatever reason, many couples find that their desire for sex are replaced by other kinds of intimacy. Cuddling and mental intimacy replace physical intimacy and while women are generally less upset with the loss than men, overall both genders have found that love without sex to okay so long as other intimacy exists because in the end all you really need is love.
(Lodge & Umberson, 2012)
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