“What Do You Mean by Sex?” A Qualitative Analysis of Traditional versus Evolved Meanings of Sexual Activity among Older Women and Men

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Older adults remain sexually active well into later life; yet, there is no consistency in the literature about what sex means to them. The study described in this paper investigated the understanding of sexual activity as reported by 30 women and men from Poland, aged 65 to 82 (M = 71, SD = 5,24). Semi-structured interviews were thematically analyzed in relation to sexual scripts theory and the participants’ specific sociocultural background. The results demonstrate the diversity of opinions on what sex is: from penetrative intercourse, through various expressions of physical intimacy, to emotional intimacy as a central concept. The dominant perception of sex as intercourse among some study participants evolved into an intimacy-oriented and partner-focused activity, with the discovery of fondling and female sexual pleasure as components of sex. Certain life events – such as ending a long-term marriage or engaging in a new romantic relationship – were identified as facilitating this change. Notable similarities in older women’s and men’s perceptions of satisfying sex in later life were observed. Acknowledging the nuanced meaning of sex for this population can contribute to a better understanding of the specificity of older adults’ sexuality.

Acknowledgments

Special acknowledgment is owed to all the participants for the time and courage to share their stories. The author would also like to thank Professor Aleksandar Štulhofer for his invaluable input and endless support, anonymous reviewers for their comments on the earlier draft of this paper, and Marcin Górka for his support during the development of the manuscript.

Notes

¹ In this article, whenever a culture or a society is labeled as “conservative” or “liberal”, it is to indicate that culture in question can be considered as leaning toward one end of the conservative-liberal dimension, rather than homogeneously conservative or liberal.

² The interview schedule was adapted from the Healthy Sexual Aging Study, courtesy of prof. Bente Træen.

³ Rowntree (2014) defined baby boomers as a generation born after the World War II, between 1946 and 1965, meaning the term applies to the older adults who are now 55-74 years old.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by the Jagiellonian University, Department of Philosophy under Research Grant DSC/005666; and by the PhD Students’ Association of Jagiellonian University proofreading grant.