Ida Tin’s “Dear Men” Series: Part 26 of 29 – Desire and Sex when Bodies Age
Dear Men, is sex still a thing? Post 26 is on desire and sex when bodies age. This is one out 29 posts for men about what it feels like to live in a woman’s body.
It is strange that we live in a world where aging women’s sexuality is almost totally invisible from popular culture, considering that we will live half of our sexual lives after reaching menopause!
Sexual drive is complex and involves hormones, brain, nervous system, emotions, relations, stress levels, health conditions and many more factors. It is however a shared experience by most women that sexual desire fluctuates with the menstrual cycle and often spikes around ovulation (which is about mid-cycle, if the cycle is the average length of about 29 days). However, as the cycle starts changing during peri-menopause and stops all together after the onset of menopause, sexual desire also changes for some women. While more women report peri-menopause symptoms to dampen their libido, fewer women feel that once they have transitioned entirely out of menstrual cycles. Then they feel their sexual drive go up again. What lies behind this pattern is unclear, is it a new balance of hormones, less stress from being done with a transition, or something else? We don’t know. As in so many other fields of women’s health research, there is a gaping hole.
The body reconfigures in many ways as we age. Hair and skin changes, the vaginal lining gets thinner, the vagina gets shorter and reduced lubrication can cause painful sex.
More women in this stage of life encounter erectile dysfunction in their partners, which might also play a role in women’s appetite for getting it on, I am guessing.
But even in spite of all of this, most women are interested in sex, also after reaching menopause.
The National Institute of Aging writes, “Many older couples find greater satisfaction in their sex lives than they did when they were younger. They may have fewer distractions, more time and privacy, and no worries about getting pregnant. They also may be better able to express what they want and need, which can offer an opportunity for greater intimacy and connection.”
Enjoy!
Artwork by Kyle Leuck
-This post by Ida Tin is shared on LinkedIn and is republished here with her permission. The SheSight Team has not made any changes to the content.
