Older Women and Sexuality: Experiences in Marital Relationships across the Life Course

Clarke, Laura Hurd

doi:10.1353/cja.2006.0034

Cited by 68 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…However, a few exceptions exist in which research has explored heterosexuality in the lives of older adults. For instance, Clarke (2006) specifically investigated the sexual experiences of older heterosexual women and concluded that “it has become socially acceptable for women to be more open with their partners about their own sexual needs and desires” (p. 139), reflecting changes in the construction of older women’s heterosexuality. In a study by Talbott (1998), heterosexually identified, widowed women “made a distinction between being interested in men and being interested in remarriage….…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Images of sexuality and aging in gerontological literature

Scherrer

2009

Sex Res Soc Policy

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Discursive portrayals of aging and sexuality have important implications for the creation and reproduction of inequalities. This article delineates some of the images of older adults' sexualities using an interpretive content analysis of gerontology articles dealing with issues of sexuality in 21 gerontological journals over a 20-year span (1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007). The 3 main findings of this analysis were (a) that aging sexualities are asserted, (b) that the sexual identities of older adults vary, and (c) that older adults' sexualities are regulated through a variety of mechanisms. Furthermore, these representations inform research and policy at the intersections of sexuality and aging.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Images of sexuality and aging in gerontological literature

Scherrer

2009

Sex Res Soc Policy

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“…A person who has lived a long time often craves for something deeper than a sexually fulfilling relationship" ( [32], p. 112). Although sexual relationships in older age become less frequent, they become more satisfactory due to an increased sense of intimacy and confidence between partners, who tend to express their sexual needs more openly [21][22][23]50]. Moreover, because of a gradual decrease in testosterone levels from the ages of forty-five to seventy, it takes longer for men to ejaculate, which may also result in sexual acts becoming longer and more sensual [32].…”

Section: Emotional Intimacies In Later Yearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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]. Liza Berdychevsky's and Galit Nimrod's findings show that sex is an "enjoyable, gratifying, and stress-relieving leisure activity" that becomes even more satisfactory due to the abundance of free time upon retirement ( [19], p. 232).…”

mentioning

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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“…However, those who remarried in later life often shifted focus from intercourse as the primary form of sexual intimacy with their partners to expressing sexuality through physical closeness, affections, and mutual sexual stimulation. Older women assigned more importance to companionship and intimacy, stressing that intercourse was not the only method to express passion and love (Clarke, 2006).…”

Section: Positive Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A phenomenological study of romantic love for women in late life

Moore

Sailor

2017

Journal of Women & Aging

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Romantic love in late life is often beneficial, though not without challenges. Financial concerns and objections of adult children can interfere with a late-life individual's decision to commit to a romantic relationship. In this study, the experience of romantic love for women who enter committed relationships in later life was examined. Fourteen women between the ages of 65 and 84 who had lived the experience of romantic love in late life were interviewed. By using Moustakas's qualitative Transcendental Phenomenological method, several themes emerged to provide a description of the phenomena. These themes included openness to experience, attraction, commitment, adjournment, and generativity. According to the findings of this study, women in late life who form committed romantic love relationships negate the physical and emotional effects of loneliness brought about by bereavement or single status in late-life women. In addition, this study found these women were attracted to partners to fulfill their needs for love, esteem, spiritual connection, and self-actualization.

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Older Women and Sexuality: Experiences in Marital Relationships across the Life Course

Cited by 68 publications

References 12 publications

Images of sexuality and aging in gerontological literature

Images of sexuality and aging in gerontological literature

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

A phenomenological study of romantic love for women in late life

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