Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Even Old People And Betty White Do It

Betty White plays up her libido for comic effect, but when she was paired with Andy Samberg the skit was too hot for Saturday Night Live to air.

This is the show that invented “Dick in a Box” and “Bitch Hunter,” for goodness sakes!

Why is octogenarian sex such a taboo?

In the skit Betty White plays a grandma on the Bronx Beat talk show hosted by her daughter. She came on the show to talk about senior yoga but quickly reveals that the hot instructor is her lover.

“He showed me what the letters in yoga stand for: “Yeah oh God again!”” she told her mortified daughter.

The fact is that elderly people do have sex, and they like it.

Elderly people are often thought of as asexual. People recoil at the thought of their grandparents having sex. And adult children have been known to split apart couples under the assumption that abuse was involved. Why can’t we believe that elderly people might actually like having sex?

This assumption is slowly being worn away with the baby boomers entering their senior years. They were part of the sexual revolution after all, so they will hopefully be able to change some of our prejudices.

Not only do elderly people want to have sex, they are still physically capable of it, despite what many might believe.

Yes, there might be some more problems with erections for men and lubrication for women.

But so long as people are able and willing they can learn ways to overcome these obstacles.  Buy a cock ring. Give the man more direct physical stimulation to help with his erection. Buy lubricant for the women.

Although it may be less often than when they were younger there’s no need for sex to stop as people get older.

In fact, some people find as they get older they are forced to be more creative to deal with their changing bodies, and this can greatly improve their sex lives. Not to mention when couples no longer have children at home they are able to have more privacy and chances to explore each other like they might have when they first met.

And if we think of all the health benefits of being sexually active, from improved immunity, longer life, reduced chance of certain cancers, to overall stress reduction, then we should encourage people to be sexually active as long as possible.

In fact, the UK National Health Service recently released a health promotion campaign on Safer Sex and the Over 50s and Manchester produced a guide book for the over 50s. This is because STIs are starting to become a problem for that age group. For example, a 56% increase in genital warts among those 45 – 64. The reason for this is thought to be that women are no longer fertile so they forget about STIs and wearing condoms. If they are newly divorced or widowed they need to learn to look after their sexual health; it might be something they haven’t thought of in decades!

Sexual health policies in nursing homes are also becoming more important as the population of those unable to fully care for themselves grows.

We all have a right to good sexual health and intimacy, no matter what our age or what our living situation.