Running Head: AGING AND SEX: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Aging and Sex: What does it mean?

Cristina Obregon
DePaul University
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Cristina Obregon
NSG 230
Professor Diane Barnett
November 2 2015

Aging and Sex: What does it mean?

What is the correlation between women who age and their sexual desire and

activity? The question is still present in todays day and age. There is no age limit on sex

for women. Although older women may become aroused more slowly than younger ones,

many find that their desire increases when they no longer have to worry about being

interrupted by young children or about getting pregnant. Older women, especially those

who remain sexually active, retain the ability to have normal orgasms. But as women age,

their bodies change and so do their sexual organs. Some common misconceptions in

todays society are that as women age, women they typically have less sex, they dont

talk about their sexual lives, or that they stop having sex or wanting it after menopause.

When the word menopause comes into play, people tend to think negatively instead of

the true physiological changes a woman goes through. What people fail to understand are

the factors that arent taken into account, and that sexual desire does not necessarily

decrease with age, but it may.

The most affected population in this area of study is midlife women in the range

of ages of 45+. According to Thomas, Hess and Thurston (2015), The Study of Midlife

Development in the United States, MIDUS II, out of 2647 women, 55.7%, more than

half, reported having at least one sexual partner, and women who refused to answer the

question were: older, less likely to romantically partnered, more likely to be menopausal,

had lower income, had lower education status, had poorer health. (p. 337). According to

the MIDUS II Survey, the proportion of women who were sexually active decreased with
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older age. 62% of women in a romantic relationship, typically 60 years or older were

sexually active. (Thomas, Hess, Thurston, 2015, p. 338).

According to Lindau (2007), a 2002 Current Population Survey stated that the

likelihood of being sexually active declined steadily with age, and it affected more

women than men. Contrary to popular belief, sexual satisfaction for women is not

correlated with age or menopause, sexual drive or activity are. In fact, sexual satisfaction

is actually correlated with: relationship satisfaction (how the couple feels about the

relationship as a whole), communication with romantic partner (how well the couple

communicates any issues, feelings, important things, etc.), and importance of sex (how

important the couple rates the sex in the relationship- quality vs. quantity). Another factor

that may influence what people see in older women is menopause. Menopause is defined

as the womens cessation of the menstrual cycle. It occurs typically when a woman

turns 45-50 years of age. It is a natural, biological process that ends the cycle of fertility.

If a woman has missed her period for at least 12 months straight, she has finished the

cycle of menopause. There is usually a negative connotation to menopause with

correlation to sexual desire and activity. Many of the symptoms include: irregular

periods, vaginal dryness, mood change, among many others.

Early 19th century attitudes towards female sexuality led gynecologists and

psychiatrists to believe that they should operate women to eradicate masturbation and

nymphomania. Women were not allowed to embrace their sexuality in such an open way.

Women that performed activities like masturbation were taught that it would lead to

serious consequences like blindness, paralysis and/or infertility. However, those claims

have now been proven to be complete myths. In ancient times it was a taboo for women
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to speak about their sexuality, and for women, especially older women, its even less

common to touch on it.

An older woman is typically desexualized in todays society. Beth Montemurro

developed a sample where 95 women were interviewed on a one-on-one basis. They were

between the ages of 20 and 60, and different in ethnicity, education and marital status.

The average time for the interview was and hour and a half. After the results,

Montemurro came up with a model (2014) that is based on her careful analysis of the

life experiences reported by participants. The stages are: 1. Developing a stance 2.

Learning through doing 3.Validation, affirmation and encouragement 4.Self-discovery

through role and relationship changes 5. Self-discovery through embodied changes 6.

Self-acceptance (p. 12)(p. 265). Every phase contributes positively with a womans

perception of sex and of herself. They encourage a woman to be willing and eager to

participate in sexual encounters as well as feel in control of her own sexual life. In our

society today, that may considered feminism.

Montemurro argues that ideally, every woman should go through the stages

appropriately, however, life experiences like virginity loss, sexual assault, marriage,

pregnancy and childbirth, divorce, menopause, extra dyadic relationships. (p. 265).

However, as times progress, gender equality continues to rise in many aspects; older

women sexuality being one of them. A womans perception of her own body and

sexuality used to depend on the male figure and expectations. Montemurros (2014) final

results Women in their 20s and 30s reported that being in committed (as opposed to

casual) relationships in which they felt trusted and respected contributed positively to

their sexual self-confidence. Older women (born in the 1940s and 1950s) often reported
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that their (first) husbands did not communicate about sex and were ignorant of womens

desire, barriers to exploring and discovering their sexual selves (p. 266). The study then

shows that younger women are more likely to possess more emotional, sexual and

physical independence than older women.

Midlife women are more likely to be in a sexually active if they are in a spousal

marriage or intimate relationship. Midlife sexuality in general has now been more

portrayed in the Hollywood films because of the importance it holds for midlife women.

Rose Weitz analyzed 13 recent U.S. films, some examples were, Somethings Gotta Give

(Diane Keaton), Sex and the City (Samantha), Its Complicated (Meryl Streep), Meet the

Fockers (Barbra Streisand), Hairspray (John Travolta and Michelle Pfeifer). According

to Weitz (2009), Although nine of the films portray women who seek sexual activity

extramaritally or outside of a romantic relationship, only two of these films (Sex and the

City and A Dirty Shame) end with women still enjoying non-relational sexuality. (p.

28). The underrepresentation of older and sexually active women in the media is still

prevalent today. Therefore, Weitz (2009) states that, these films suggest that midlife

women should have sexual desires, should act on those desires, should experience sexual

pleasure, and should not sacrifice their sexual needs for a mans approval. (p.17). Weitz

argues based on her findings of the that the movies we have in todays media should

probably advocate more for the acceptance and embrace of the older womans female

body instead of looking at it as a desexualized joke.

Not every woman has access to the right medication when they hit important

hormonal stages like menopause. Some of the factors that limit the access to appropriate

medication are education and financial situation. It is important to give the necessary
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sexual education to young women not only before they engage in sexual activity but after

as well. A better understanding of aging and sexual activity is detrimental to todays

community of young and older women. On the other hand, education is the key to land a

job, which is something indispensable to get the necessary money to have access to the

right medication.

SWAN, Study of Womens Health Across the Nation, made a report on the

different ethnic background of women and how those take a toll sexually in every

womans body. The results of the study show that black women reported a higher

frequency of sexual intercourse than white women. Also, Hispanic women reported lower

physical pleasure, while Chinese and Japanese women reported more pain during sexual

intercourse and less desire and arousal. African-American women were more likely than

white women to report at least moderate desire but less likely to report weekly sexual

activity. Finally, sexually active Latina women were more likely than white women to

report at least moderate sexual satisfaction. A substantial proportion of community-

dwelling women remain interested and engaged in sexual activity into older age. Lack of

a partner capable of or interested in sex may contribute more to sexual inactivity than

personal health problems in this population. Racial/ethnic differences in self-reported

sexual desire, activity, and satisfaction may influence discussions about sexual

difficulties in middle-aged and older women. (Huang, Subak, Thom, 2009). Many of the

married heterosexual older women who do not engage in sexual activity are missing the

capable partner. Sexual dysfunction is something that can happen in both men and

women. Usually, the first connection that people make with male sexual dysfunction is

erectile dysfunction, something more physical than anything. When women suffer of
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sexual dysfunction, it has to do with a lot of internal changes instead of physical ones.

Female sexual dysfunction affects 40% to 60% of women. The major factors are: age,

education and physical and emotional health. With age, women are more likely to

develop chronic illnesses. With chronic illnesses come loads of medications. With loads

of medications come different physical and internal side effects of the medication. Some

of these side effects might include loss of sexual desire and that may lead to loss of

sexual activity. With education, a woman is more likely to achieve higher education and

get a higher paying job, therefore she will be able to afford the right hormonal treatment

if going through things like menopause or sexual dysfunction. Physical health and

emotional health are interconnected and affect directly how a woman sees herself and her

desire and inclination to engage in more sexual activity.

Women have many sub layers of sexuality and there are many factors that

contribute to its growth or decline. There should be a more explicit research in the future

on topics such as the sexual stimulants/toys and the use that older men and women give

them; in other words, how the older generation is interacting. Another important topic to

address in future is the female perspective on pornography and the percentages of the

women who do watch it, (age, gender, sexual orientation) and the reasons why. Finally, it

would be important to research about the hormones that could increase temporal sexual

desire, i.e. the female Viagra. Also, there could more research on lesbian and transgender

women and the sexual and hormonal changes that they go through and how they might

differ from heterosexual women.

Sexuality has not always been something that women have been able to explore

in the past. Older women are sometimes categorized to be not sexy or unattractive and
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discouraged to keep exploring their sexuality at an older age. It affects how people see

things like menopause, motherhood and/or divorce. Problems like lack of sexual activity

and sexual dysfunction should be more talked about in the real of the younger female

community in order to understand the changes that young woman will eventually go

through. As stated before, there is no age limit on sex for women, but there is limit on

how people perceive that idea, what people know about aging, and what can be done to

have a more accepting society that places less taboos on things like sexuality.
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References

DeLamater, J. (2015). Increasing our Understanding of Womens Sexuality. Deserving

Desire: Womens Stories of Sexual Evolution. 265-267.

Huang, A., Subak, L., Thom, D., Eeden, S., Ragins, A., Kuppermann, M., . . . Brown, J.
(n.d.). Sexual Function and Aging in Racially and Ethnically Diverse Women.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1362-1368.

Mccoy, N., & Davidson, J. (n.d.). A longitudinal study of the effects of menopause
on sexuality. Maturitas, 203-210.

Lindau, S., Schumm, L., Laumann, E., Levinson, W., O'muircheartaigh, C., &
Waite, L. (2007). A Study of Sexuality and Health among Older Adults in the
United States. New England Journal of Medicine N Engl J Med,762-774.

Thomas, H., Hess, R., & Thurston, R. (2015). Correlates of Sexual Activity and
Satisfaction in Midlife and Older Women. The Annals of Family Medicine, 336-
342.

Schick, V., Herbenick, D., Reece, M., Sanders, S., Dodge, B., Middlestadt, S., &
Fortenberry, J. (n.d.). Sexual Behaviors, Condom Use, and Sexual Health of
Americans Over 50: Implications for Sexual Health Promotion for Older Adults.
The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 315-329.

Weitz, R. (2009). Changing the Scripts: Midlife Womens Sexuality in Contemporary

U.S. Film. Sexuality & Culture, 17-32.