Sex/uality Artifacts

Hey guys! My name is Jessica Mason and I briefly presented the Golden Girls clip showing the girls purchasing condoms for a trip. After reading “Feeling Old and Ugly? Look Again!” I thought of this show because they do try to erase the stigma that older people don’t have or enjoy sex and that they are also less appealing. They tend to focus on older women being beautiful, they do make comments about being older but there are more positive ones than there are negative.

In this clip, the girls are preparing for a cruise and Blanche recommends buying protection because “you never know”, Rose and Dorothy are every hesitant because there are embarrassed for others to judge them by their purchase. Blanche then explains to them that it is confidential as to what they buy so they each pick out a box. The cashier then announces their items over the intercom to get prices and the three women become extremely embarrassed. This clip was humorous but also make valid points about the older generations being sexually active. Throughout the show they discuss men and different sexual relations, especially Blanche, and also discuss being beautiful.

I enjoy this show because they have valid points about embracing yourself no matter how much criticism you get or no matter the age. The girls pick on each other but also bring each other’s spirits up. There are a great amount of sexually active older people but no one wants to discuss or think about it but it is happening. Statistics show that it’s actually healthy for older adults to be sexually active. In a study created by National Commission on Aging, women in particular find sex more satisfying than they did in their 40’s, 62% of women saying so. This show attempts to erase the myth that aging dampens the desire for older people to be interested in sex or just looking beautiful in general. Senior sexuality should be discussed more and I feel like statistics should be publicized more often to show that there is nothing wrong with older adults having sex.