Personal Growth Reflection
Reflecting upon sexual activity among adults, one has to understand what sexuality means. The author of the article about sexy seniors, Vicki Mabrey (2006) defined it as a long-life activity. The author underlined that having sex in any age is equal in significance to taking food. Besides, it contributes to the normalization of aging (para. 11). This opinion helped me to rethink my idea of sexuality among adult people.
The study on sexuality among U.S. seniors gives a broad overview of the problem. According to the outcomes of this research, at least 75% of American adults never give up on such a vital aspect of life as sex (Lindau, Schumm, & Laumann, 2007).
The most uncomfortable issue within the problem of adult sexuality is that the subject of their sexual orientation often becomes a pretext for discrimination. According to William Kanapaux (2003), social service agencies tend to adopt a prejudiced attitude towards homosexual seniors and often refuse them in social care (para.1). The problem is rooted in the stereotyped idea of adults either being heterosexual or having no sex after their 60s at all. The consequences of such biased opinion can be quite grievous, while the crisis of sexuality among adults leads to a wide spreading of diseases that are sexually transmitted. The seniors are not informed about the dangers of unsafe sex, that is why they tend to believe that such problems do not apply to them.
The most inspirational aspect of the matter is that many modern adults do not feel embarrassed or ashamed to discuss the issue. Joan Price, a woman who managed to describe her sexual experiences in the book, is a bright example of that (Mabrey, 2006). Thus, it is crucial to keep on talking about sexuality at any age, which primarily concerns medical and social workers who are responsible for the adult patients’ health.
Sexuality and Diversity
Numerous studies prove the fact that the discussions of sexuality with regard to elderly people are uneasy and unacceptable. The study of attitudes of 22 general practitioners, which was conducted in the USA in 2004, illustrates the idea that matters of sexual activity are traditionally associated with the younger generations. According to the results of this research, medical workers never bring up the issue of sexuality, when they discuss the problems of health with aged people (Gott, Hinchliff, & Galena, 2004).
It, however, does not mean that the problem of sexual activity is irrelevant for adults. In 2007, a complex study of sexuality among elderly people in the United States was held. This investigation helped to differentiate a number of problematic sexual issues that disturb senior people (Lindau et al., 2007).
Naturally, the problem of sexual activity is widely spread throughout the world. To get the broader idea of the matter, one can analyze the outcomes of the global study that concerns adult sexuality that was described by Laumann, Nicolassi, and Glasser (2005) in their article.
Comparing the results of the research that targeted American adults (Lindau et al., 2007) and the one that was directed upon the elderly citizens of the other parts of the world (Laumann et al., 2005), a range of similarities can be deduced. First, both studies used an identical method of research, which is interviewing a few groups of adult men and women as for their sexual problems and reflections. Second, the issues that were investigated were the same: the presence of sexual aspects in the lives of seniors, the health problems connected with it, etc. Finally, the results of the research coincided as well. A percentage of people aged 40-80 years who regularly engaged in sexual activity in the USA equaled 74% (2007), while in European and Asian countries the number reached 75% (2005). The major reasons for adult females having troubles with sexuality in both cases were low desire (42-43 %) and difficulties with vaginal lubrication (39-40 %). The erectile difficulties were found to be the prevailing problems in the sexual lives of adult males (34-37 %) (Laumann et al., 2005).
The main difference between the researches lies in the fact that the global study (2005) presents the classification of sexual problems that were encountered by people, depending upon their geographical region. For example, one may deduce that the female population of South Asia is less likely to suffer from vaginal lubrication than Americans or Europeans. The percentage of cases connected with the problem equals 34 %. The number of adult men suffering from sexual problems, due to early ejaculation differs as well: 28-29 % in the USA and East Asia, 12 % in Middle East countries (Laumann et al., 2005).
Thus, the studies under discussion present a consistent overview of sexuality problems that are met by elderly people throughout the world. The matters that disturb adults in different parts of the world are recurrent and address such issues as vaginal lubrication and low sex desire among females, early ejaculation, and erectile difficulties among males. The major crisis of sexuality with elderly people arises when it is not discussed in the medical spheres. Therefore, the medical workers are obliged to pay more attention to such issues, so that not to leave adults alone with their problems.
References
Gott, M., Hinchliff, C., & Galena, E. (2004). General practitioner attitudes to discussing sexual health issues with older people. Social Science & Medicine, 58(11), 2093-2103.
Kanapaux, W. (2003). Homosexual seniors face stigma. Geriatric Times. Web.
Laumann, E., Nicolasi, A., & Glasser, G. (2005). Sexual problems among women and men aged 40–80 years: Prevalence and correlates identified in the global study of sexual attitudes and behaviors. International Journal of Impotence Research, 17(2), 39-57.
Lindau, S., Schumm, L., & Laumann, E. (2007). A study of sexuality and health among older adults in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine, 357(8), 22-34.
Mabrey, V. (2006). Sexy seniors discover the pratfalls of modern law. ABC News. Web.