Older Adults & Sex

An Australian researcher has recently concluded a study of internet users from age 60 to 92. The participants were from Australia and the United States. She will present her results at The Australian Sociological Association conference in December.

Sue Malta says she wanted to examine whether technology was making a difference to how older people’s relationships developed and the longevity of those romances. She says the results overturn two stereotypes prevalent within our community: that older people are asexual and are not technology savvy.

“That old stereotype that you get to a certain age and you don’t want to do it any more is not true,” she said.

Online relationships between older people become sexually intimate faster and are of shorter duration. Many of the older women said the cyber romances suited their lifestyles because they “never wanted to live with anyone again”. They have no wish to become someone’s nursemaid and housekeeper because they’ve already done that.

Most felt cyber-flirting was fun, but a precursor to a sexual relationship, while very few participants approved of cyber-cheating.

Some of the participants had engaged in cybersex, with one older woman saying she would only have cybersex with someone she was not going to meet and all her cybersex encounters were with men much younger. To her they are casual sexual encounters all in the safety of her own home.

“A lot of the participants had health issues and found sex and intimacy was one of the best things for them and gave them increased vitality,” Malta says.

As one woman told her during an interviews, “I can hardly walk, but there is nothing like a romp in bed to make me feel alive”.

We could have told her all that, couldnt we? There are very few people at SexyAds who plan on giving up sex as they get older. Certainly not me.