Intimate lives of older women essay examples

Still Doing It: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65

One of the most controversial topics in every human culture is sexuality. Prejudice and taboo have surrounded this complicated subject throughout our entire history. Even though Western societies are more open to discussing sexual issues than ever, some aspects of our very sexual nature will continue to be considered problematic to many. One of these sensitive topics is the sexual life of older women. Main stream media and religions have promoted wrong ideas about sexuality for the elderly. We can see how propaganda showing young women is everywhere just to support the ideas of consumer capitalism. Old women are never included in this frivolous picture, selling the misconception that they are not interesting enough to actively participate in society. On the contrary, mature women are intellectually and emotionally superior with plenty of experiences to share. Also, religious ideas are misleading in the sense that they tend to repress the feelings and sexual needs of these women. Despite of living in a supposedly open and evolved society, older women have to suffer exclusion and the judgment of everyone on a daily basis.
The educational system has been profoundly influenced by conservative and religious institutions. Some of the most affected by these ideas are women, as they grow they receive a biased education where there is no chance to show any sign of reluctance towards the establishment. They are educated to serve as the moral center for family under the dominance of a man having to cover their most profound feelings and desires. This male domination continues throughout all their lives, and that´s how we are used to the picture of women sitting at home taking care of their children and then grand children as they aged. We never think of old women having an active life or even worse an active sexual life. The mass communication media are natural supporters of this cruel mode of operation. Capitalism is attracting the youngest most attractive women for the selling campaigns of new products that need to be urgently commercialized. Even the sons or daughters of old women, whom are fully embedded in this educational-promotional superficial model, tend to be extremely judgmental to them by criticizing their intention of pursuing an actively normal sexual life. Some of these women have reached a stage of mental and emotional maturity that allowed them to even consider pleasing some of their homosexual long-time repressed sentiments, which makes them even more susceptible to criticism and isolation by their peers and family. Some of the women over 65 participated in the sexual liberation movement of the 1960´s, all of a sudden the movement faded away but all the ideals and respect to independent choices and true freedom remained profoundly entrenched in their minds. Hippies’ ideals of community and multiple sexual partners were condemned by the government; we may remember what happened to Berkeley students while President Reagan was in charge of the State of California. A campaign against anything related to liberation was waged by him to propel his emerging career. Regan´s efforts finally paid off with the presidency of the U. S. This imposed pressure along with misinformation, led government and conservative institutions to take over all the gained knowledge of the hippie culture. Precious experiences with hallucinogens to discover a hidden world in our consciousness, community ideals of love and the value of women as a true center of society just vanished. We went back to the era of male domination where capitalism, competition and individuality are fully admired.
Admirably enough, some of these women decided to speak out about how happy is to have an active life that includes freely expressing their sexual desires. One of the main mechanisms to relief such societal pressure was by writing. After a life full of experiences, these extremely talented women started to create amazing literature and informative writings for the world to enjoy. Stories about their sexual encounters during their exploration years back in the 1960´s revived with full force. All that seemed lost was recovered and augmented in the right direction. Some started to create their own art and communicate to those in fear by their unconventional views of sexuality. Gay and transgender people found a place for acceptance and companionship. Despite these hopeful situations there is still a long way to go to recover a society where difference is not only tolerated but fully approved and accepted.
As a young woman, I feel completely identified with these amazing people. I constantly feel the pressure of society that forces us to fit in the model proposed by capitalism. We all dream about being a supermodel or Barbie because they supposedly have all the best society has to offer: a great job, fun all the time, handsome guys, and lots of friends. Expressing myself against these ideals will cost me a lot. Friends and family are too accustomed to the model that my very own thoughts will be shocking for them, and I don´t want to lose their support. I have always heard that ladies cannot think about sex and should behave in a particular manner. The movie just encouraged me to pursue happiness and to be sincere with myself and my feelings from now on.