14 Pleasure in Old Age

Loe, Meika

doi:10.18574/nyu/9780814772522.003.0014

Cited by 21 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The present study found that older people generally scored lower on sexual motives than did younger people, which suggests the importance and function of sexual activity in an intimate partner relationship may change over time. Keeping in mind that desire to engage in sex is only one category of sexual motivation, the finding of a decline in sexual motivation in older versus younger persons is consistent with the well-documented decline in sexual desire seen with age in both men and women (e.g., Hatfield & Rapson, 2015 ; Höglund et al, 2014 ; Loe, 2012 ), and with the related decline in testosterone with age (Dick et al, 2020 ; Krapf & Simon, 2017 ; Maggi et al, 2020 ). However, it should be noted that the relationship between testosterone and sexual desire is not yet completely clear (e.g., van Anders, 2012 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Why Hungarians Have Sex (YSEX?-HSF)

et al. 2021

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Using the same methodology as Meston and Buss (2007), three studies were conducted on a Hungarian sample (total N = 4913) which corroborate previous findings on the universal diversity of sexual motivation. Study 1 (N = 2728; 1069 women and 1659 men) identified 197 reasons for having sex based on participants’ free responses. In Study 2 (N = 1161; 820 women and 341 men), participants indicated the extent to which each of the 197 reasons had led them to have sexual intercourse. Factor analyses yielded three factors and 24 subfactors. This differed from the original YSEX? four-factor questionnaire. In Study 3 (N = 1024; 578 women and 446 men), a reliable and valid 73-item short form version of the YSEX? questionnaire was developed in a Hungarian sample (YSEX?-HSF). In addition to similarities and differences in the factor structure, we found important links between reasons for having sex and age, gender, personality, and mating strategy. For example, number of reasons for having sex tended be higher in younger compared to older participants. Men exceeded women on having sex for novelty-seeking and infidelity opportunities, whereas women exceeded men on having sex for relationship commitment and mate retention. Extraversion and neuroticism were linked with reasons for having sex, and those who pursued a short-term mating strategy reported having sex for a larger variety of reasons.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Why Hungarians Have Sex (YSEX?-HSF)

et al. 2021

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“…Older women's interest in romance tourism may be due to various factors, including sociocultural and political transformations, and peer pressure, which may entice them to behave in ways which conform to the social ideals and cultural trends [18,[23][24][25][26][27]. The cult of individualism and sexual identity, which is a socially learned behaviour, has become very important since the sexual revolution and the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s [1,28].…”

Section: Sex Sexuality and Ageing Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Female sexual desire, which has historically been constructed as passive and almost non-existent in comparison to active male sexual behaviour, can be reclaimed and revived in the context of romance tourism [18,44]. These notions are especially relevant to older women, who are perceived as asexual and unattractive in today's beauty-and youth-oriented society [7,9,[23][24][25][26][27]32,35,39]. As Berdychevsky and Carr argue, leisure travel experiences can "serve as counter-normative settings, providing women with opportunities for sexual experimentation, transgressions, inversions of sexual roles, and empowerment" [9] (p. 6).…”

Section: Romance Tourism and Its Pleasuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Hunt for Noble Savages: Romance Tourism and Ageing Femininities

Stončikaitė

2020

Societies

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Casual sexual encounters are closely wedded to leisure travel, and have received a lot of attention in both theoretical and empirical work. However, the relationship between romance tourism and female ageing remains largely under-researched. This article offers critical insights into the interplay of the successful ageing and sexual relationships abroad of older women travellers. It shows that romance tourism has both positive and negative implications for women’s physical and psychological health and wellbeing. Although exotic escapes help reconnect women with their youthful selves, enhancing a sense of self-confidence and challenging the narrative of decline, casual sex may also generate conflicting feelings once the travel romance is over. This article also encourages the rethinking of the complexities of ageing femininities, sexual activity and health risk in ‘silver’ romance tourism today. Additionally, it argues that the sexual health guidelines and information campaigns should adopt a more multifaceted approach to sexual expressions, and encourage alternative views towards sex and sexuality in later life, in order to not create a rather oppressive ideology among older women.

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“…The idea of having an active sexual life in older age, previously negatively associated with menopause, the lack of libido, asexuality, and impotence, is now changing partly due to the model of successful aging. Research reveals that pleasurable sexual experiences can enhance a sense of happiness, vitality, emotional intimacy, and self-esteem in older adulthood, and provide older people with physical health and psychological benefits [17][18][19][20]. Mental well-being is, in fact, particularly important in assuring fulfilling sexual relationships in later life stages [21][22][23].…”

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confidence: 99%

‘No, My Husband Isn’t Dead, [But] One Has to Re-Invent Sexuality’: Reading Erica Jong for the Future of Aging

Stončikaitė¹

2017

Societies

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New biomedicalized forms of longevity, anti-aging ideals, and the focus on successful aging have permeated the current sociocultural and political climate, and will affect the future of aging. This article examines changing attitudes towards sexual practices and the perception of sexuality in later years, as exemplified in Erica Jong's middle and late life works and interviews. Instead of succumbing to anti-aging culture and biomedicalization of sex in old age, Jong reveals alternative ways of exploring sexual practices in older age, and challenges a pharmaceutical market that promotes the consumption of medication to enhance the idea of virility and 'sexual fitness' in older men. Jong's work undoes the narrative of decline that portrays older individuals as sexually inactive and frail, and, at the same time, shows that the interest in sexual intercourse and the erect phallus gradually becomes less important as people grow older. This qualitative narrative analysis opens the discussion for reconsideration of late-life sexuality beyond biomedical understandings of late-life sex and old age. The study also reveals how a literary approach can provide alterative and more realistic perspectives towards sexual experiences in later stages of life that can have significant implications for healthcare policy and the future of aging.

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14 Pleasure in Old Age

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Why Hungarians Have Sex (YSEX?-HSF)

Why Hungarians Have Sex (YSEX?-HSF)

On the Hunt for Noble Savages: Romance Tourism and Ageing Femininities

‘No, My Husband Isn’t Dead, [But] One Has to Re-Invent Sexuality’: Reading Erica Jong for the Future of Aging

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