Individual and relational contributors to optimal sexual experiences in older men and women

Older adults have often been depicted as largely asexual: physically unattractive, uninter-

ested in sex, and/or physiologically unable to engage in sexual behaviours (Bouman,

Arcelus, & Benbow, 2006; Gott & Hinchliff, 2003; Waltz, 2002). The media has

*Corresponding author. Email: kleinpla@uottawa.ca

and Therapy,

Vol. 30, No. 1, 7893, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14681994.2014.931689

SEXUALITY & AGEING

reinforced this message. Explicit depictions of sexualized older adults remain taboo or

marginalized as the subject of ridicule (i.e., “dirty old man”; Vares, 2009).