The issue of seniors' sexuality, especially the aspect of sexual activity undertaken by people considered "old" is usually met with silence or even condemned. The stereotypical assumptions are that with age a person's needs associated with feeling and realizing their own sexuality dissipate, and seniors are perceived as asexual beings.Only in the last decades of the XX century did this area of "taboo" become the subject of in-depth scientific interest and research. The average life span is increasing, and as research shows, so is the number of people who are sexually active and satisfied with intercourse at an elderly age. For hundreds of years, in Western culture, sexual health was equated with reproductive ability. The contemporary concept of health emphasizes that it is a value which allows a person to realize aspirations regardless of age.This article focuses on the content of guides which bring up the importance of seniors' sexual health. The aestheticization characteristic of the late modern period forces a deconstruction of the concept of old age. In the rhetoric of the everyday and the narcissistic style of the realm of experts, experiencing old age simultaneously becomes a source of pleasure, as well as frustration on the road to an individual's self-realization and self-creation.
In the period of young adulthood, i.e., between ages 18–20 and 30–35, the coupling of the duties, goals, and ambitions connected with various life activities takes place, these being in education, participation in the labour market, self-supporting a household, starting a family, becoming a parent, and active participation in the social life. The social and cultural as well as economic changes that are occurring nowadays affect the course of family life as well as the stages of individual development. One of these stages refers to a young adult leaving the family home. However, it is more and more often the case that this moment gets deferred. Research conducted by sociologists and demographers in the recent years shows that the growing share of young people in industrialised countries choose to live with their parents in spite of their adult age. The increase in young adults staying in the family home in the recent years has led to the term ‘nesters’ being coined for them, while the effect of their bond with their guardians being stretched in time is now referred to as the ‘crowded nest’ or ‘cluttered nest’. This article offers an insight into one of the components of the process of reaching adulthood, namely leaving parental home. The qualitative study (carried out in 2012 and 2013) combines statistical analyses and personal interviews; its results are based on 42 interviews with women and men aged between 27 and 38 who live with their parents in Warsaw, Poland. This interview-based analysis focuses on demonstrating the process of nesting of young adults and the interviewed persons’ perception of this behaviour.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.