Sex and the over-sixties.

In 1950, just 8% of the world population was over 60 years old. Today this figure is over 10%, and rising. In the more developed parts of the world, 1 in 5 people is 60 or older.

Not only is the present global population of the 60+ expected to almost triple by 2050, but with life expectancy steadily increasing, from 77 years at present to 82 by 2050 in the developed world, the 2 billion (!!) of over-60s will also live to be old for as long as they've been young.* That's a hell of a long time to have to live with reduced options, many because of declining health, often without a companion, and - certainly not least - without sex.

The first of these two problems - health problems and the absence of a companion - were found to be the main causes of the third - lack of sex - in the over-sixties in a relatively recent US study. Of those who had a partner, at least 50% of the respondents between 64 and 75  and at least 20% of respondents between 75 and 85 were sexually active (source: BBC).

Ths same received cultural expectations that, at least in the Western world, put pressure on just about everyone under 50 to flaunt sexual vigour and prowess require the over-50s to be increasingly discreet about their sexual desire and activities as they age, to the point of muting them: in our culture, sexuality is often seen as inappropriate to old age. No doubt several traits of idealised sexual attractiveness probably are evolutionary cues - what signals youth and health, signals good odds for reproduction. The point of any ideal, of course, is its rarity and its distance from the norm, and the vast majority of people are inevitably pretty close to the norm. What's more, unless you're an extremely hard-line evolutionary biologist, you'll probably agree that when it comes to sexual attraction much of it is in the mind.

Image source

All of which suggests that the reason why the sexuality of older people is rarely a topic has little to do with a lack of sexual attraction, desire or indeed activity, and much to do with cultural ideals and stereotypes. While sexual desire does decline with age, this may be more a sign of resignation than of desire being physically switched off. Another study reports that opportunity - in other words, the availability of a partner - may well affect people's interest in sex, and account for the difference between men and women. In that study, around 75% of all men between 25 and 85 had a partner, whereas among women, only about 65% of those between 25 and 54, and a mere 40% of those over 75 had a partner (source: BBC).

The unusual short documentary below offers a glimpse into precisely that - the sexuality of an older woman. 'Libby' is well over 60 and overweight. She is also a sought-after, highly rated star of so-called adult entertainment industry. And one of the few women over 60 that I've heard speak frankly about their sexuality (warning: NSFW).

*All figures and statistics from the United Nations World Population Prospects - The 2006 Revision.