Monday, August 13, 2007

Sex Ed for Seniors?

This is interesting. Would you talk to your parent or grandparent about sex? Remember when your parents tried to talk to you about sex? Since people with AIDS/HIV are living longer thanks to improved drug care this could be something necessary. Many of these people are getting older and still active. There are many people living actively way past 65-70. That means these people are also sexually active. Many of them are not aware of the pitfalls of having sex. Let's face it, talking to a widowed grandfather about sex it not what most of us want to do. We don't want to think of our elderly friends and family as sexual beings. Many were in monogamous relationships for years. Living longer for some means they may find themselves without that life partner. Enter the age of Senior Sex. Just how do you tell grandpa that he may need to use a condom? Most family members don't want to talk about it. So some Senior Centers are giving out free condoms during the get-togethers. It just might be a good idea to have Sex Ed for our elderly friends and family. A lot of things have changed in the course of 60 to 80 years. It may sound silly to give away condoms with bingo cards, but it could be a good idea. Right Grandpa, what do you say Grandma?

3 comments:

pineapple said...

After reading that, I can say for the first time in my life I am glad that my grandparents are no longer around for that horribly uncomfortable conversation.

cube said...

You can't see me, but I have my hands over my ears & I'm saying, "La la la. I can't hear you. La la la."

;-)

Joan Price said...

I'm happy that you're talking so respectfully and articulately about senior sexual health -- good for you. I'm sad -- but not surprised -- at the comments you've received. Pineapple would rather see his grandparents dead than talk to them about sex? Cube is covering his/her ears?

I invite you (and Pineapple and Cube) to to visit my blog, where we're talking about all topics related to senior sex. Maybe tell your grandparents about it, too!

Again, thank you for raising the subject.

Best,

Joan Price
Author of Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex After Sixty (Seal Press, 2006, http://www.joanprice.com/BetterThanExpected.htm )

Join us -- we're talking about ageless sexuality at http://www.betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.com