SEXUALITY AND AGING

McKenzi Romero American Military University

Authors Note: This presentation was prepared for CHFD220, taught by Dr. Offie Hobbs

The Message

This video from the previous slide is a somewhat humorous interpretation of what happens physiologically and psychologically to human sexuality as we age. The video seems to describe a “second puberty” that adults will encounter around the age of 30 years old where there bodies will start to to show signs of aging and slowing down and sexual desires will fluctuate between men and women. The video is clearly focused on the negative aspects of getting older, referring to human sexuality as “a big missed high five”, and implies that as one gets older they will eventually stop having sex. (College Humor, 2014).

Physiological and Psychological

Examples College Humor (2014) shows a cartoon depiction of a man growing hair on his

back, his nose, and ears, while losing the hair on his head. The reason men tend to grow the coarser hair in these regions as they age is oddly enough tied to the same reason male pattern baldness occurs which is dihydrotestosterone levels, ("Older men with increased ear and nose hair growth," n.d.). Depending on the individual, such as a friend of mine who lost his hair at 24, this can be viewed as unattractive and most likely affect many males self confidence.

The next example of aging includes a woman getting cellulite and stretch marks and “smile lines” on her face. Why is cellulite worse when we age? That is because after woman turn 30 the connective tissue that holds the dermis together starts to loosen (Kravitz, n.d.). As women age “the collagen and elastin that support our skin breaks down”, causing the appearance of lines and wrinkles of the face ("Top Ten Reasons For Wrinkles," n.d.). These two effects of aging have cause my grandmother confidence issues which resulted in her spending thousands of dollars in cosmetic procedures to reverse the effects of aging.

Physiological and Psycological

Examples CONTINUED The video goes on to display a woman who’s metabolism seems to have

slowed down. The impression which I received from this video was this occurred because of aging. However, “contrary to popular belief, metabolism doesn’t naturally decrease greatly with age. Instead, metabolism decreases mainly due to a loss of muscle mass from inactivity” ("Truth About Metabolism and Aging: Does Metabolism Really Slow Down as We Age? | Mind Over Fatmatters," n.d.). This causes the woman in the video to work out often causing her to miss out on her social life.

Next the video discusses that men desire sex less often and then shows a graph illustrating the difference in sexual peak and performance and in and women. You can clearly see the frustration in the woman's face. Problems occurring with the sex drive of men most of the time have little “to do with hormones or biology and a lot to do with the women in their lives. Men today, often enough, are angry at their wives” (Marano, 2003).

Physiological and Psycological

Examples CONTINUED The video lastly mentions the how fertility decreases as

a female ages while showing a woman crying. Chances of a woman conceiving decrease every year after 30 (College Humor, 2014). This can take a toll on a woman’s confidence to preform her natural duty to have children and also possibly depression because she is unable to have start or continue her family.

References College Humor. (2014, October 18). How To Prepare For Second Puberty [Video file].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veq4Oc8S7-I

Kravitz, L. (n.d.). Cellulite. Retrieved from www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/cellulite.html

Marano, H. (2003, March 1). When Men Suffer Low Sex Drive | Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200303/when-men-suffer-low-sex-drive

Older men with increased ear and nose hair growth. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hairfinder.com/hair4/grow_nose_hair.htm

The Top Ten Reasons For Wrinkles. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.letstalkbeauty.com/wrinkles/top-reasons-for-wrinkles

The Truth About Metabolism and Aging: Does Metabolism Really Slow Down as We Age? | Mind Over Fatmatters. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://fatmatters.com/the-truth-about-metabolism/