GREAT SEX IN A new relationship is brilliant at any age but even better as you get older—the appreciation and excitement of sexual intimacy increase as you value your emotional connection more. Sex drive is not time-limited. It’s just that the novelty fades over time. It has nothing to do with age and could happen if you were 25, too.
Sex, no matter what age, enhances self-worth and self-esteem. It also makes you feel happier and more relaxed and boosts your immune system. It reduces the risk of depression, protects against prostate cancer, and decreases feelings of loneliness. It is also associated with a better survival rate from heart attack for men. An English Longitudinal Study of Ageing shows that more than half (54 per cent) of men and almost a third (31 per cent) of women over 70 are sexually active, and a third of these men and women are classed as having frequent sex.
In a ground-breaking new campaign, relationships charity Relate has enlisted iconic photographer Rankin to help celebrate intimacy in our later years.
Called ‘Let’s Talk About the Joy of Later Life Sex‘, the campaign stars five couples and one woman who have been captured on camera in sexual and sensual poses, the images emblazoned with witty taglines.
The campaign aims to break the taboo around sex and intimacy for older couples, a subject that is rarely tackled openly.
While it is true that sex is pretty much everywhere – on our TV screens, in movies, in books, online – it usually focuses on young couples and any mention of older people having sex is often played for laughs.
According to a survey by 3Gem market research, 67% of over 65s say sex and intimacy for their age group are rarely (43%) or never (24%) represented in media.
“It may seem as though it’s only young people with ‘perfect’ bodies having sex and being intimate, but of course, this isn’t true,” says Relate sex therapist Gail Thorne. “In reality, ‘sex and intimacy in later life’ means different things to different people: for some, it’s about exploring new and different sexual experiences, and for others, it’s simply about feeling able to express emotion through a gentle touch or kiss on the cheek.”
Once the ‘honeymoon’ period is over, many couples in long-term relationships find that full-on sex is not on the cards very often, or ever, for any number of reasons. For them, simple acts of affection, such as a kiss or cuddle or a long body-to-body hug, can be enough to sustain their relationship, but for many, it may work for one; the other is sadly left wanting. The high rate of divorce in 50+ couples is often due to a breakdown of the marriage bonds or adultery. It appears to bear out the theory that the level of intimacy which comes with foreplay and sex is what makes a couple complete, with the closest emotional and physical bonds.
While there’s still a long way to go before later years, sex is normalised on a broader scale. This campaign is a wonderfully empowering way to start the conversation and encourage more couples, whatever their age, to embrace intimacy and share that if they feel able.
