Bianca Fileborn

Sex, desire and pleasure: considering the experiences of older Australian women

Older age is often associated with asexuality. That is, older individuals are not viewed as desiring of sex, nor as sexually desirable to others. Broader social and cultural norms that downplay womens sexual desire and agency further compound these phenomena. Whether this popular image accurately reflects older womens sexual desires, behaviour and capacity to experience pleasure is unclear. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 43 partnered Australian women aged 55–81, this article considers womens sexual experiences and desires in older age. The findings of our research confirm that older womens experiences of sex and sexual desire are diverse and fluid. Some of the factors that influenced participants’ sexual behaviour and desire will be considered in this article, as will their understandings of what “counts” as sexual satisfaction and “successful sex”. The factors affecting sexual behaviour and desire also influence the way in which women are able to negotiate sexual interaction with their partners. Participants expressed a need for education and resources in order to gain greater control and to make autonomous choices over their sexual experiences, desire and ability to give and receive pleasure. The implications of these findings for practitioners are also considered.

Sex and the (older) single girl: experiences of sex and dating in later life.

This study explored the sexual subjectivities of older Australian women. In this article we present findings from 15 qualitative interviews with Australian women aged 55-81 who were single at the time of interview. The majority of these women were single following divorce or separation, with a smaller number of women who were widowed or never in a long-term relationship. We found that these womens sexual desire and sexual activity were fluid and diverse across their life course. Although some participants desired a romantic or sexual relationship, they were also protective of their independence and reluctant to re-enter into a relationship in later life. Our findings indicate that these womens sexual subjectivities were shaped by dominant norms of ageing, sex, and gender. At the same time, older women are challenging and resisting these norms, and beginning to renegotiate sexuality in later life.

Old and desirable: older women's accounts of ageing bodies in intimate relationships

Despite the body being central to the experience of ageing, little attention has been paid to how relationships may mediate the experience of ageing bodies. This article considers older Australian womens accounts of their bodies and of embodied experiences in the context of both long-term and newly formed intimate relationships. Drawn from a broader study of ageing and sexuality, our analyses of semi-structured interviews with 20 women aged 55 to 72 revealed that while women were frequently unhappy with their appearance, this was less important to them in relationships. During sexual intimacy, embodied experience and the capacity for bodies to be sites of pleasure were emphasised. Overall, participants experienced their bodies as sites of negotiation between socially constructed meanings of older bodies and subjectively produced ones, in complex and sometimes contradictory ways that fell outside simple distinctions between social and individual.

Doing gender, doing safety? Young adults’ production of safety on a night out

Abstract This article explores the ways in which young adults produce a sense of safety in pubs and clubs. Despite considerable anxiety around issues pertaining to safety and violence in the night-time economy, there is little consideration of how young adults themselves feel about their safety on a night out, or how they achieve a sense of safety in a seemingly ‘risky’ social space. Drawing on mixed-methods research conducted in Melbourne, Australia, in this article I consider the strategies that young adults used to feel safe on a night out. I argue that feeling ‘safe’ is something that is actively produced through the use of these strategies, as well as providing an avenue for ‘doing’ gender.

The Sex, Age, and Me Study: Recruitment and sampling for a large mixed-methods study of sexual health and relationships in an older Australian population

Abstract Older people are often excluded from large studies of sexual health, as it is assumed that they are not having sex or are reluctant to talk about sensitive topics and are therefore difficult to recruit. We outline the sampling and recruitment strategies from a recent study on sexual health and relationships among older people. Sex, Age and Me was a nationwide Australian study that examined sexual health, relationship patterns, safer-sex practices and STI knowledge of Australians aged 60 years and over. The study used a mixed-methods approach to establish baseline levels of knowledge and to develop deeper insights into older adult’s understandings and practices relating to sexual health. Data collection took place in 2015, with 2137 participants completing a quantitative survey and 53 participating in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. As the feasibility of this type of study has been largely untested until now, we provide detailed information on the study’s recruitment strategies and methods. We also compare key characteristics of our sample with national estimates to assess its degree of representativeness. This study provides evidence to challenge the assumptions that older people will not take part in sexual health-related research and details a novel and successful way to recruit participants in this area.

Sexually active older Australian's knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and safer sexual practices

Objective: Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are rising among older Australians. We conducted a large survey of older peoples knowledge of STIs and safer sexual practices.

The Importance of Sex and the Meaning of Sex and Sexual Pleasure for Men Aged 60 and Older Who Engage in Heterosexual Relationships: Findings from a Qualitative Interview Study.

That many older individuals continue to engage in various forms of sexual expression well into later life is now well established in the literature. To date, however, only a small body of qualitative research has examined older men’s experiences and understandings of sex in later life. Likewise, the ways in which older men’s discussions on sex may be used as an avenue for “doing” masculinity remain underexplored. Older men are particularly interesting in this regard, as they inhabit an increasingly subordinated position in relation to hegemonic masculine ideals because of their age. To what extent might this limit or, alternatively, open up the possibilities for sexual expression and subjectivity in later life? Drawing on a subset of findings from Sex, Age, and Me: A National Study with Australian Women and Men Aged 60 and Older, data from qualitative interviews with 27 Australian men were explored in this article. The first Australian study of its kind, we argue that older men who engage in heterosexual relationships draw on a diverse and complex array of discursive positions regarding sex, relationships, and masculinity in making sense of their experiences of sex in later life. Older men are a heterogeneous group, and their experiences and understandings of sex do not simplistically follow “decline” or “success” narratives of aging. The findings of this research build upon and extend emerging research illustrating the centrality of intimacy to older men’s sexual lives, while simultaneously highlighting the ways in which the body and discursive constructions of sex intersect to shape older men’s sexual subjectivities.

Taking Back the Night: Preventing Unwanted Sexual Attention

What can we now say about what unwanted sexual attention is, and how might we begin to take steps to prevent it? This book presents important implications for current conceptual and theoretical understandings of sexual violence. Such understandings require a degree of fluidity or flexibility, and the author advocates for the use of assemblage as a productive conceptual tool in this regard. Theoretically, these findings present a clear need for our frameworks of understanding of sexual violence to account also for intersections of identity, space, and place. Current, largely heteronormative theories of sexual violence are insufficient to account for the complexity and diversity of young people’s experiences. The chapter concludes by considering what can be done to work towards preventing unwanted sexual attention in pubs and clubs.

Sexual Assault and Justice for Older Women A Critical Review of the Literature

This article provides a critical review of current literature on the sexual assault of older women—including an exploration of the specific features and emotional and physical impacts of older women’s experiences—and highlights current gaps and future directions for research, practice, and theory. A review of the literature indicates that older women constitute only a small proportion of victim/survivors. However, there is evidence to suggest that existing research underestimates the extent of this issue. Older women face particular barriers to disclosure and accessing the justice system, resulting in their experiences remaining hidden. Many of these barriers also contribute toward older women’s experiences being ignored, dismissed, or downplayed by potential bystanders. These barriers are explored in depth in this article and include cultural context, ageism, cognitive and health impairments, and living in a residential care setting. Responding to, and preventing, the sexual assault of older women requires a tailored approach—and we currently lack sufficient insight to develop appropriate responses. In closing, this article considers how we might work toward achieving “justice” for older women victim/survivors.

Learning about Sex in Later Life: Sources of Education and Older Australian Adults.

Abstract This paper examines the preferred sexuality education sources of older Australian adults in later life. Drawing on findings from qualitative interviews with 30 men and 23 women aged 60 years and older, we consider the sources that participants currently use, or would like to use, in seeking information about sex. Where relevant, we examine participants’ experiences of learning about sex in later life using different sources, and the impact these had on their sexual expression, pleasure and well-being. Preferred sources of information include the Internet, the media, health care providers, books and workshops or discussion groups. A substantial number of participants did not actively seek information on sex. For those who had, these educational endeavours could profoundly shape their sexual practices. As such, learning about sex should be viewed as a lifelong endeavour. Our findings carry important implications for the development and delivery of sexuality education for older adults.