Do your grandparents still make whoopee? Whether you like it or not, studies show they may.
Society teaches us people stop having sex when their hair turns gray. Fortunately for the older than 60 crowd, this isn’t true.
Surprisingly for women, sexual pleasure may increase. Women younger than 60 experience orgasms during 50 to 60 percent of their sexual encounters. Sexologists B. D. Starr and M. D. Weiner found 72 percent of women between the ages of 60 and 91 reached orgasm “always” or “most of the time” during sex.
So is sex like fine wine? Does it get better with age? The increased pleasure for women may be attributed to reduced fear of pregnancy, a sense of freedom with their partners and decreased anxiety about their appearance, children at home and jobs. Also, as age increases, so does awareness of one’s body and desires.
Exactly how many seniors still are sexually active? As many as half of Americans older than 60 have sex at least once a month and one in four say they would like to have it more often, according to a survey by the National Council on the Aging.
The main reasons the other half abstains — lack of desire, hormone changes, illness, pain, death of partner and impotence. These factors slowly are decreasing due to new drugs such as Viagra, vacuum devices, self-injection impotence drugs, penile implants and hormone therapies.
Not only are married couples still making love, older singles are too. Bingo nights and senior center dances are becoming more common. The high divorce rate means more seniors are dating and socializing actively.
The adverse side to sex at an older age is that sexually transmitted diseases affect all ages. The number of older people contracting HIV/AIDS is growing. The number of cases among adults older than 50 is increasing at twice the rate as those younger than 50. One out of every 10 people diagnosed with AIDS in the United States is older than 50.
This increase is attributed to the fact that senior citizens aren’t educated properly about sexually transmitted diseases.
As college students, we constantly are provided information on the risks of unsafe sex. Even Salt ‘n Pepa raps to us about sex in, “Let’s talk about AIDS,” a remake of their popular song “Let’s talk about sex,” which is used to educate.
Most seniors may not like rap, but they need to be informed. Our society needs to grow up a little and realize older people still enjoy life. Some health care providers are beginning open, informative programs to address the importance of safe sex to this age group.
If we don’t stop this trend now, the number of cases will rise. As the baby boomers turn golden, they will be even more relaxed about dating beyond 60.
As with anyone who is sexually active, seniors should use protection and test themselves and their partners. AIDS and other deadly diseases know no age. Or as Salt ‘n Pepa would say, “AIDS ain’t got no smell or taste / It don’t care about your race / You see a nice, kind face — you think you’re safe? / I’m sorry, that’s just not the case / There’s no debate, conversate with your mate / And don’t wait until it’s too late.”
Word.