Senior sex: exploring the sex lives of older adults.

Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Ageing. By Merryn Gott. New York, NY: Open University Press, 2005, 149 pages. Paper, $36.95.

Increasingly, people in industrial nations are living longer, maintaining their health into ages previously thought unattainable. Due to the rapid increase in aging in the past fifty years, relatively little research has been conducted on sexuality, health, and aging. Sexuality, Sexual Health and Ageing is part of the Rethinking Ageing series and was written to address what is known about sexuality and aging, along with the policy and practice implications.

Sexuality, Sexual Health and Ageing opens by exploring the contemporary understandings of sexuality and aging. The author, Merryn Gott, argues that both previous thoughts on aging and sexuality and creation of new myths of sexuality and aging can be equally dangerous. Gott sets out to reveal the myths of "asexual old age" and the "sexy oldie." Perhaps the most significant contribution of this chapter was Gott's insight into the new myth of the "sexy oldie" as a potentially hazardous and confining stereotype. Gott argues that the new "sexy oldie" myth is creating an environment in which older men and women feel pressured to pop sexual enhancement pills and maintain perfect bodies in attempts to conform to the youthful standard of sex and beauty. Depicting older adults as either asexual or sexy is restrictive; viewing the sex lives of older adults as complicated and multi-dimensional is both more accurate and more freeing. Gott's thoughts are original and progressive compared to other researchers in this field of study.

The focus of the middle of the book is older peoples' experiences of sexuality and aging. Gott looks to the literature to discover what we currently know about sexuality and aging across cultures. Gott does a good job highlighting previous researchers' findings by reporting their methods and results in a concise and clear manner. "Sex" is defined widely, and the middle chapters "move away from the narrow, coital-focused understanding of sexuality in order to address issues such as sexual attractiveness and body image" (p. 61) among older adults.

The importance of sex to older people is highlighted by referencing Gott's own qualitative interview/focus group study. The quotes from these older adult respondents add a personal dimension to the text, making this section perhaps the most interesting part of the book. Here the reader can put aside the sociological jargon used throughout the rest of the book and observe more directly older adults' opinions regarding their sexuality and the sexuality of their peers.

There is a section of the book devoted to diversity in later life, including diversity based on gender, sexual orientation, partnership status, socioeconomic status, living circumstances, ethnicity, age, and cohort. Although several types of diversity are discussed, this section feels unfinished and deficient. The reader is left wanting more information.

The book closes with consideration of sexual health, sexual problems, and aging. Gott examines sexual risk-taking and sexually transmitted infections in later life and health professionals' views on later-life sexuality and sexual health. Encouragement, interventions, and advice are offered to health educators regarding how to inform older adults about STIs/HIV and how particular behaviors may put elders at risk for these aliments.

Gott also spends considerable space questioning the concept of sexual "dysfunction" as associated with aging. She questions what "normal" sexual functions are in older adults. Furthermore, she asks, if the individual doesn't perceive a change in his or her sex life (due to aging) to be a problem, is it really a dysfunction?

There were only two major weaknesses to the book. Although it is a relatively short book, parts were repetitive and poorly organized. Also, it was unclear for whom Gott wrote. The book was written above the "average" reader from the general public, yet it was not as rigorous as most academic volumes. Still, overall the book was perceptive and provided solid information on the sociological issues associated with sexuality and aging. I recommend this book to sociologists or sex researchers/educators interested in sexuality and aging.

Reviewed by Rose Hartzell, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, Program of Health Science, HPER Building 308-I, Fayetteville, AR, 72701; e-mail: [e-mail].