Nothing unusual, you might think — but what if I tell you Shirley is 74? This is an age better suited to slippers than sex — or so society would have us believe. Her lust for life and high hopes for love is infectious and reflects a surprisingly common mindset among older women who discover they have a renewed interest in sexual intimacy later in life. Femail met three single seventysomethings who are in search of a loving and intimate relationship. But I have been particularly struck by the number of single seventysomethings who are in search of a loving and intimate relationship. So is it any wonder that now they are reaching their 70s, sex is still important, however much that might make the younger generations squirm? Dame Helen Mirren, 72, famously admitted to only finding true sexual fulfilment later in life. Pictured, Shirley Livingstone, 74, has tried dating through agencies but hasn't found anything serious.
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Sylvia, 70
I have noticed an interesting trend on Facebook lately. Women my age, meaning us midlifers, are sharing intimate details about our sexuality. Like honing pigeons, we are finding each other, being open on our thoughts about sex and aging and lending support. We are discussing how we are rediscovering, or quite possibly, just being more open about the fact that we are still sensual, sexy, desirable and, yes, horny. We are expressing frustration how society views us as we enter or are in menopause. A few years ago, a close friend of mine shared a story with me about joining an online dating service for 'mature' singles. She had just turned 60 and, get this, she was told that she was too old! She was refunded her money, explaining that men her age or even older were only interested in women under This woman is beautiful!
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When I was 11 years old, my mother silently snuck into my bedroom. Under the cover of midnight, she sat cross-legged at the end of my bed and proceeded to give me The Talk, although it was more of a whisper. Instead of focusing on the anatomy of sex — the biological prophecies by which, some say, our bodies were made to meld into one — my mother chose to emphasize pleasure. She spoke about the importance of passion: pursuing it, asking for it and finding it within yourself. Society has a tendency to perpetuate this idea that the older a woman grows, the more she yearns for the beauty of her youth. It was once bewildering to me that my mother could be so candid about sex. But after speaking with Sylvia, Barbara and Michele — all women 70 or older — about their relationships to pleasure, I now realize that some women only grow more comfortable in their sexualities and in their bodies as they age. I was born in Alexandria, Egypt, but I left very early as a stateless political refugee. We had a very hard time getting to the United States because the immigration quota system was in effect there — there were something like 17 Egyptians allowed in annually.
Join AARP at 1 p. ET Tuesday for a live call-in coronavirus tele-town hall. Pre-register by phone now. But what about everyone else's? In a survey that's still under way, more than 8, people over 50 have already revealed what happens in their relationships — and in their bedrooms.
