Senior Sexuality: Good for Elderly People’s Mental and Physical Fitness

Senior Sexuality: Good for Elderly People’s Mental and Physical Fitness

I really want to jump out of the topics which textbook provided, but looking into the issue that is apt to be neglected. An amusing movie “ Meet the Fockers” directed by Jay Roach just gave me some enlightenment. It represents the tremendous differences between two elderly couples: one has a life full of humors and passion, the wife is a special yoga teacher who helps elderly couples to improve healthy sexual life; another one has a boring insipid life, they obviously lost passion with aging. This movie actually makes me realize that elderly people experience significant lifestyle changes, including aging, retirement, health issue and grief such as beravement. There is a sensitive issue related to the healthy aging also important to elders: sexuality and aging.

Can elderly people also enjoy sexual life at any age? Of course yes. “We have tended to see older adults as having needs, and as “ being needy”. However, the growing population of third age adults who have needs are no different than adults of any age”. (Kaufman, Week 4-p2) Many of older adults also want to continue an active, satisfying sex life. It has been argued that aging process may cause some changes-“normal aging bring physical changes in both men and women. These changes sometimes affect the ability to have and enjoy sex. For example, some people who have had a heart attack or stroke afraid that having sex will cause another attack or stroke. ”( MedicineNet.com) We should attach great importance to senior sexuality, since it’s affecting the aging healthy development of both physically and mentally.

I understand that many people have no image of their own parents as sexual, much less their grandparents. “Ours is still a youth-oriented society, so there is a certain amount of ageism and stereotypes of older people, including the belief that older people are not sexual.” Said Jonh DeLamater who teaches in University of...