Desexualisation in Later Life: The Limits of Sex and Intimacy

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Front Cover Desexualisation in Later Life: The Limits of Sex and Intimacy Copyright information Series Dedication Table of contents Notes on editors and contributors Series editors’ introduction List of contributors Foreword 1 Introduction to volume two: themes, issues and chapter synopses Desexualisation Chapter synopses: biological, legal, relational, cultural, structural and policy/practice constraints on older people as sexual agents Consent and constraint Relational constraints Aesthetic(s) of eroticism in later life Discourses of ageing femininity and the menopausal body Constraints on older disabled people Constraint and older people with an intellectual disability Constraints: the need to go beyond dementia and sexuality as a problem Constraints on older people living in long-term care facilities Ageing LGBT individuals and sex Sex and intimacy in later life: the role of professionals in overcoming desexualisation Conclusion References 2 Consent and sexual literacy for older people Older people’s sexual activity, desires and impediments Understanding sexual consent Time, cultural change and consent issues for older people Sexual literacy and older people’s sexual agency and lives References 3 ‘At YOUR age???!!!’: the constraints of ageist erotophobia on older people’s sexual and intimate relationships Discursive relations and ageist erotophobia Erotophobia and relations within care home contexts Ageist erotophobia and interpersonal relations: a rare footnote Conclusion Note References 4 The aesthetic(s) of eroticism in later life Introduction A constructionist approach to eroticism in later life Cultural analysis of age-related eroticism Current scenarios Emerging narratives Analysis of our psychological study on ageing sexuality Conclusion Note References 5 Menopause and the ‘menoboom’1: how older women are desexualised by culture Introduction Cultural context A culture of binaries The mass-mediated female body Ageing, femininity and sexuality Public voices: menopause, the ‘menoboom’ and narratives of midlife Connecting public voices and individual experience Private voices: lived experience of menopause Pinnacle and decline Conclusion Notes References 6 Ageing, physical disability and desexualisation From impairment to disability to crip: theorising disability Dimensions of the intersection: older people, physical disability and intimate lives Age, disability and desexualisation: critical responses References 7 Ageing, intellectual disability and desexualisation Neurodiversity: problems of definition and boundary-marking Consent and capacity Intellectual disability, ageing and sex and intimacy: the terrain Conclusion References 8 Dancing in- or out-of-step? Sexual and intimate relationships among heterosexual couples living with Alzheimer’s disease Introduction What is ‘dementia’? “The sex therapist has arrived”: the study and its participants Gendered responsibility and the impact on sexual selves “Dancing out of step”: loss of reciprocity “She doesn’t understand me”: disrupted and maintained recognition Conclusion References 9 Older people living in long-term care: no place for old sex? Barriers to sexual expression in L-TCFs Social attitudes toward sexuality in older age Conceptions of care and organisational culture Professional attitudes Sexuality in residential aged care facilities among older people living with dementia LGBT older adults and residential aged care facilities Conclusion References 10 Ageing and the LGBTI+ community: a case study of Australian care policy Introduction Context LGBTI+ population: UK and Australia Inclusive care for older people and the LGBTI+ community Meeting key stakeholders An Australian case study National drive: the Australian picture Organisational desire for LGBTI+ inclusive aged care Community benefits and examples of good practice Conclusion References 11 The role of professionals and service providers in supporting sexuality and intimacy in later life: theoretical and practice perspectives Introduction Sexuality as taboo in care: theoretical perspectives Theoretical perspectives Conceptualising desexualisation in care settings Transition and ‘vulnerabilities’ Conclusion References 12 Final reflections: themes and issues arising from the volume on desexualisation in later life Overarching themes relating to the desexualisation of older people Being old = multiple changes = loss Diversity in desexualisation Policy and practice issues The state of research on desexualisation and possible future directions References Index Back Cover