Sexuality in adulthood
Mature sexual expansion
Sexual orientation is determined
Integrate sexuality and relationships
Establish personal sexual philosophy
Developmental concerns
Establishing sexual orientation
Integrating love and sex
Forgiving intimacy and making commitments
Making fertility/childbearing decisions
Practicing safer sex
Evolving a sexual philosophy
Additional phases
-First same sex love affair, marking commitment to unifying sexuality and
affection.
-Becoming involved in gay/lesbian/bi-sexual culture
-Coming Out
-Internalized homophobia
Being Single
Greater Sexual experience
Widespread acceptance of cohabitation
Unintended pregnancies
Increased numbers of separated and divorced single men and women
A rise in the number of single-parent families.
20% are likely to get divorced and 50% of those remarry.
Cohabitation
2000 census: over 10 million unmarried couples were reported
¼ women, 3/10 men
It is the new norm
Domestic partnership
Serial Monogamy-succession of marriages with each lasting approx. 7 years
Advantages
-Financial
-Egalitarian roles
-Affirmation of relationship
-Domestic Partner Benefits
Disadvantages
-Parental non-acceptance
-Financial issues tied to parental support or credit
-Reproduction
-Extra relational sex
-Increased likelihood of divorce after marriage
Among Gay/lesbian/bi-sexual
-One in nine same sex cohabitation
-States dealing with legal forms of union for some sex couples
Marital Sexuality
-Frequency of sexual interactions
A) May occur more frequently with sanction of marriage
B) May decrease the longer a couple is together
-Sexual satisfaction and pleasure are more common in married couples
۰ The moral and social sanction of sex within marriage can affect sex life.
Sexual intercourse decrease in frequency in longer marriage
Fatigue and lack of private time
Does not indicate decreased enjoyment or pleasure
۰ Consequence of divorce
-Stigmatization
-Change of income
-Higher incidence of physical and emotional problems
-Significantly more problems with children
-Children of one parent families have special issues.
Dating again
-Engaging in sexual behavior with someone following separation is significant
۰ Helps accept single status
۰ Freedom of expression
-Dating more focused and less leisurely
Single Parenting
-31% of families are headed by single parents.
-Single parents not often part of single world
-Presence of children affect divorced women’s sexual activity
۰ Stereotypes of aging
-Thought of a as a lonely and depressing time
-Sexuality of older Americans tends to be invisible
-Sex is defined by activities of younger participants
-Emotional, sensual, relational aspects are not readily recognized.
What really happens in sex and aging
-Emotional, sensual relation aspects enjoyed regardless of age
-Sex acts occur in aging population
-Health can affect sex habits
-Medical definition of sex practices
۰ Women’s issues
-Change in fertility
-Menstruation loss
-Menopause
۰ Hot flashes
۰ Loss of bone mass
۰ Changes in vagina
۰ Men’s issues
-Male climacteric age 40-60
-Less than 20% report difficulty with erection
-Slower sex responses may be reported
-Slower responses are not related to ability to give or receive pleasure