The Golden Girls are some of television’s most beloved characters and in someways, sex symbols.
These four over 50 ladies were the original Sex and the City and helped revolutionize how Americans viewed the elderly and sex, especially women. But as the show came to a close, so did the minds of Americans about geriatric sex.
Most people do not like to think about grandma and grandpa having sex; however they do have sex and, according to recent statistics, lots of it! Contrary to popular belief that people in their 20’s are having the most sex, according an article on the U.S. World News Report web site July 2008, more people in their 70’s are having more sex.
With Viagra assisting impotent men, active elder sex has risen from 52 percent to 98 percent. Likewise, menopause aids in taking pregnancy out of the sometimes-difficult contraception equation, the elderly often have more enjoyable sex lives.
After reviewing these statistics, I questioned the sex lives of college age people, which generally includes individuals aged 18-24. Sure, the first thing people think of about a college co-ed dormitory is that there is tons of sex happening, but the stats prove otherwise.
Compared to the average American college dorm, the average nursing home/elder living center has more sexual occurrences. A 2008 MSNBC report said that more than 50 percent of the elderly in nursing homes engage in sexual activities with a partner or masturbate.
In addition, 36 percent of women in their 80’s still had sex with their husbands or boyfriends, while 52 percent of men the same age still had sex.
In past years, nursing home staff often tried to discourage their elderly patients from having sex, however now-a-days, nursing home sex has become less taboo.
Oddly enough, in recent years college students are having less sex. According to a March 2008 article on the Huntington Post web site that referred to CDC 2006 stats, on average college students had one partner a year. It had been two partners in years previous.
These stats showed that college students had a sexual encounter every three months.
The CDC 2008 reports showed 60 percent of people 60 and older had sex at least once a month and often have multiple partners.
Unfortunately, with freedom of being away from parents and elderly being away from their adult children come the repercussions of the elevated levels of STDs.
The CDC states that young adults 18-24 are at the most risk for contracting a STD. Although this age group appears to be at the most risk, CDC statistics show that the number of new HIV infections are the fastest growing in people over 50. Those numbers are also respectively the same for gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and herpes.
Of the 19 million new STD cases each year, half of those people are age 18-24. The other half are 50 and over. And while it appears those age groups are getting STDs at the same rate, the elderly seem to be spreading STDs faster. The reason is because of limited STD screening for the elderly.
The normal consensus is that people over 60 do not have sex, however the numbers do not lie.
So, the elderly have more sex. These stats could make some college students feel sad about their sex lives, however the silver lining is that the elderly are acquiring the most STDs. Unless a college student plans to have a roll in the hay with Playboy Magazine’s Hugh Hefner, 83, or Blanch Devereuax, the 84 year old over sexed roommate from the Golden Girls, they should consider themselves lucky.