Published: March 28, 2012
iStockphoto © Abel Mitja Varela
“Dirty old men” or asexual seniors? Research on sexuality and old age paves the way for a new view of masculinity.
“Elderly people’s sexuality is a taboo subject. Many films depict romantic relationships between older people, but they don’t explore sexual relations,” says Linn Sandberg.
Sandberg was one of the presenters at the seminar “Threatening Masculinities, Threatening Men” organized by the Centre for Women’s and Gender Research at the University of Bergen. She based her talk on her doctoral thesis from 2011 on elderly men’s masculinity and sexuality.
One of the questions she asked in her thesis was how ideas about elderly men’s sexuality can challenge our view of masculinity.
“Older men are seen either as asexual or as the stereotypical ‘dirty’ old man,” she says.
Sandberg wanted to explore what underlies these stereotypes and how men view their own sexuality. [continue reading…]
Published: August 26, 2008
Nude male, photographer unknown, c.1925, gelatin silver print. Collection of The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
Contrary to stereotypes about sexual performance and masculinity, men interviewed in a large international study reported that being seen as honorable, self-reliant and respected was more important to their idea of masculinity than being seen as attractive, sexually active or successful with women.
The study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine included interviews with more than 27,000 randomly selected men from eight countries (Germany, U.S., U.K., Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Italy and France), with about 16 percent of the men reporting erectile problems. [continue reading…]
