Communication and Sexuality: How Sexuality Is Affected by Age

The popular culture perceives sexuality among the elderly people as if it doesn’t exist or that the elderly are not as interested as they were in their younger years. The younger generations don’t even want to think about it because of the possible visualization may shock them and they find it disgusting. I’m sure I’m not the only one as a kid that I found adult expressing their intimacy with each other gross. But as I grew, I found that expressing your feelings just shows love and care for that person. Sexuality among the elderly does exist, and from articles that I’ve read to include our reading material, studies show that people in there 70’s and 80’s remain sexually active (Greenberg, Bruess, Oswalt, 2013). There are some sexual problems that increase and sexual activity rate goes down a bit but it doesn’t put a complete stop just because of aging. The desire and interest remains high. It may not be appealing to younger people but they will find that it’s a natural change once they reach that age.

The truth about how sex among older adults is portrayed in the media and popular culture is simply that it is not portrayed very often in these mediums. Preadolescents and adolescents tend to receive much of the sexualization that is used in these mediums while the elderly tend to never get portrayed doing these types of activities. This can be attributed to the media's presentation of the perfect human specimen, man or woman; of which most elderly people do not satisfy as they have wrinkles, sagging skin, more skin marks (moles, freckles) and overall are not attractive by the media's standards. Older people have the life experience and intelligence to ignore such impositions and therefore, it does not affect their sexual lifestyle. To the

For the partner, the stress and demands of caregiving may interfere with intimacy. The elderly are more likely to take drugs that can cause problems affecting intimacy. Levels of sex hormones decrease, causing changes that make sexual intercourse uncomfortable or difficult. Libido may decrease. If elderly people develop problems that interfere with physical intimacy or if they feel embarrassed about changes in their body they may not want to discuss these changes with their partner or with a health care practitioner, who may be able to suggest

Television and film do a wonderful job of widowing parents or creating a life so intertwined with their children that is their identity. When we do witness the actions around sexuality and the aging it is almost never serious, often leaving one to think that that the elderly engaging in any sexual contact will prove perverted, dangerous or lethal (Dan Sewell). Much like advertisements for products incite us to buy them, the views of sexuality and senior citizens we see in the media carries into real life, leaving the elderly to be labeled as either asexual or are met with phrases like "dirty old man" or cougar, simply for having a desire that exists within all of us. Being of the community and seeing these perceptions does not make it easy to be open about feelings regarding the topic on any level, exacerbating any existing esteem issues that could be onset of aging (Melanie

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

In “Sexuality and Aging-Research on Aging” Dan Sewell, MD, explains the revised definition of sexual intimacy, the need for doctors to ask about sexual activity, and the need to take care of ourselves.

Sexuality in aging is an interesting topic being that everyone will age and the information is vital to know. Countless amounts of people want and need to be close to others, as they grow older meaning they yearn to endure a lively, fulfilling sex life. With aging, there might be changes that can produce later difficulties and issues. Typical aging brings physical changes in both men and women. These changes occasionally disturb the capability to have and enjoy sex. As a woman the vagina gets older and begins to change. The changes are things such as the structure, shape, and even size changes. The lubrication begins to slow down. These changes most likely will affect sexual functions or pleasure.

Upon enrolling in Sexual Communication, my initial belief was that I️t would be an easy course. I also had the belief that I wouldn’t learn much due to my prior knowledge regarding sex and communication. Weeks later, this notion was dismissed and I began learning facts, tips, and other pieces of information I most likely would not been exposed to if I did not enroll into this class.

For the elderly, it becomes a concern as it does with losing any other motor function. Society has become increasingly more aware that the elderly is just as concerned with their sexual performance as the younger generation. Subramanyam & Pinto (2011), address that most elderly have difficultly verbalizing their sexuality because of shame. Shame formulates from what we believe is acceptable and unacceptable in society and how we will be perceived.

I have chosen to focus my research paper on intergenerational sexual pedagogy and child sexual abuse in New York City from 1860 to the early 1900s. I chose New York City for my research because this location is rich in historical records and particularly unique because of the huge influx of European immigrants known as the European wave. The European wave created a dramatic increase in population for New York City during a short time and this was an exciting time for government regulation because of quantity of immigrants and the diversity of the population. Lastly, I am interested in the European wave in New York City because this period and population provides insight on working class families. I find people of poverty and the working class

Changes Regular changes ( happen in the bigger populace) - The basic changes are in for the most part everybody. For instance - in men sexual excitement and pre-ejaculatory are decreased with age. . The amount of maturing impacts a particular individual shifts from i on diverse factors.((Meston, C.M(1997, October).Aging and sexuality. The Western Journal of Medicine, 167(4), 285)).Some sex-related changes happen in people as a characteristic procedure.

This article illustrates an extremely sensitive topic about sexuality in the older adult and in the chronically ill adult. The article mentions a number of valid points on sexuality, which is extremely interesting as society and health care professionals tend to ignore this topic. The tradition was that the older adult was not interested in sex and as one got older, they would lose interest in sex and the studies of Matocha and Waterhouse point out that nurses were most likely to ignore the sexual concerns of the patients of any age group. The most recent up to date definition for sexuality indicates that sex and sexuality should not be seen in the same entity, but includes various kinds of

In the case of Ashley, I would assume her therapist would point out all the options she has before deciding if she wants to pursue a sexual relationship with her boyfriend. She should explain the variety of emotions an adolescent girl might feel when a boy or young man shows an interest in her. She should let her know that the word love can sometimes be displaced and confused with feelings such as lust, puppy love or even infatuation. She should let her know that for her young age, those are normal feelings and though they shouldn’t be taken lightly, they should also not be taken advantage of by someone who

Chapter 12 talks about communicating in intimate relationships. There were a lot of interesting things discussed in this chapter, but the section I found most interesting was the one about gender differences in same-sex friendships. Differences between genders has always interested me so a lot of things came to my mind while reading this section. The largest thing being how my dad always acts like a jerk around his friends.

The number of aging adults in the United States is rapidly increasing. Based off of the 2012 U.S. Census data, 13.4% of the population is people 65 years of age and older. An estimated 20% of the population will consist of adults 65 years of age and older (U.S. Administration on Aging, 2008). As a result, it is important to fully understand the factors contributing to the well being and happiness of older Americans. It is popular belief that sex and intimacy contribute to a higher quality of life. Despite this widely held belief, many older people do not have a fully satisfying sex life. Even though many healthy older adults often enjoy a wide range of sexual activities well into there 70s and 80s, there is a difference between their desire to engage in sexual activity and actually engaging in sexual activity. It has been shown that participation in sexual activity declines even though their desire for it remains strong (Lindau et al., 2007). This research study is based on the activity theory. The activity theory of aging states that older people will have a higher satisfaction with life if they are able to maintain their social roles (Whitbourne, 2005). Unless they face health issues or disability, older people needs and desires are just the same as middle-aged people. In relation to the activity theory, it is easy to assume that having the ability to remain engaged in sexual activity as they continue to age will eventually lead to a greater level of