March 6, 2013
Sexuality and Society
Professor Angel Why is it so hard for society to discuss and acknowledge sex practices of the elderly? Society for some reason prefers to avoid the idea that the elderly are sexually active. This belief is quite peculiar because they are human beings like everyone else with sexual drives. The elderly just like the rest of society want to feel that closeness and compassion everyone experiences through sex. Instead of ignoring the fact that they are sexually active we should accept it and understand that one’s sex drive doesn’t fade with age. Sometimes it seems as if we see the elderly as “older” children by downplaying their sexual needs and desires. Since when has it been established that an individual is only capable of having sex within a certain age range? For instance, when we are mere children we are told very little about sex and then apparently, when we reach a certain age sex is no longer a possibility. Society needs to acknowledge the fact that everyone experiences sex differently and sex drives vary. If we constantly assume that everyone is the same it will be hard to get away from the “expectations” placed on us by society. After reading “A Kind of Sexual Revolution: At Some Nursing Homes, Intimacy Is a Matter of Policy” by Matthew Purdy and “Sex in Nursing Homes” by the KY Post staff, I was upset to see that talk of sex and intimacy is limited or non-existent among the elderly. They should be