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Aging and sexuality 
The sexual models that we conventionally see are 18 to 30-year-old people. We seldom have an opportunity to see of older people pictured as enjoying sex. Take 
a close look at the cover of one issue
of Time magazine and see how myths about
aging and sexuality are maintained.
The purpose of this assignment is to (a) make you more aware of the way aging and sexuality is misunderstood by most people, and (b) encourage the routine use of your critical mind as you analyze the social world we live within and maintain. By "doing" this research exercise you again become engaged in "framed" observation, this time studying and thinking about the way people growing up in North American are socialized to feel about and perceive older adults' sexuality. Myths become an easy way to convey age norms; and, the age norms that are conveyed might be evidence of cultural lag, and therefore they fail to take into account other cultural (r)evolutions that affect older adults' lives, such as the way sexuality has become independent of its reproductive function and regarded in intimacy terms. Today, sexual intimacy is a taken-for-granted part of relationships. But is it recognized as part of older adults' lives? Choice 1: Ask five college-age men and women (five each) to complete Marcy Barack' quiz "Love & Sex for Americans 50+", then score their quiz for them. Listen to their responses. The objective is to assess people's knowledge and misinformation, as well as to assess their feelings and/or perceptions about the gap between "the facts" and their native (likely naive) understanding of sex and aging. What was the average level of knowledge? What were people's common responses vs. the facts -- that is, where were people most misinformed? What were people's reactions to their false beliefs? The quiz is found on the AARP web site linked above. To do this option, you will need to first take the quiz to determine the correct answers. Then print a copy of the quiz for your "interviews." Choice 2: Engaging in content analysis as a research method, you can discover the strength of the prejudices people maintain about older adults' sexuality -- "My grandparents never had sex!" "My god, what are they doing in there?" Using the cartoon below that Keith Bendis designed, ask five college-age men and women (five each) to "fill in the characters' thoughts or words in each ballon" and to provide a caption for the cartoon. Review the 10 cartoons and fill-ins and identify the ones that you found to be the funniest (or most disgusting); why did these produced the strongest response in you? What do the completed cartoons tell you about young people's attitudes toward female sexuality, male sexuality, sex and aging, and sexual relationships? |
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1. On average, how many times a year do people age 50-59 have sex? A. 27.4 2. Menopause changes a woman physically. Which of the following is not a usual response? A. Diminished vaginal elasticity 3. How many men over age 45 report impotency problems? A. One in four (25 percent) 4. Prominent sex therapist Dr. David Schnarch says that sexual dysfunction is: A. Inevitable 5. At what age is it safe to forego condom use with a new sexual partner? A. 45 6. Who's more likely to remarry—a divorced/widowed man or woman? A. Man 7. Where is a divorced woman most likely to find a husband—among the ranks of men who have never married, divorced, or lost a wife? A. Never married 8. Sex, health, money, and a good relationship are all important to quality of life, but which attribute do mature adults rate lowest? A. Physical health 9. When mature women engage in sexual activity, how many always or usually achieve orgasm? A. 91 percent 10. Of the following statements, which do mature men and women equally endorse? A. Sexual activity is important to my overall quality of lifeB. Sexual activity is a critical part of a good relationship C. Sexual activity is a pleasurable, but not necessary, part of a good relationship |