The Boomers – the Love Generation who thanks to the benefits of oral contraception “practically invented sex”  - are now leading a new sexual revolution on behalf of wrinkly seniors.

So says senior sex expert Joan Price, who suggests a youth-oriented culture just needs to get used to the idea of the over 60s getting naked.

Her blog “Better Than I Ever Expected” gets lots of hits from people searching on the phrase “granny sex” says Price, a sex activist who’s determined to get rid of what she calls “the ick factor” in senior sex.

Love in Later Life

The author of two books on the topic – 2006′s Better Than I Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty and this year’s Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud About Senior Sex, both from Seal Press – Price practices what she preaches.

Ten years ago she fell for a 64-year-old – “the love of her life” she says – and there was no stopping her. “Neither of us knew sex could be so good,” she says.

The ‘ick’ factor is the idea that sex is reserved for young bodies, she says.

“If I encounter the ‘ick’ factor, my response is always: ‘At what age do you plan to retire your genitals?’” said Price, who turned 68 in November.

Still Interested at 70

One of the primary myths Price wants to shatter is the idea that seniors have lost interest in sex. Seniors are interested and need more information about how to enjoy it with their changing bodies, she said.

“It is harder for seniors to find sexual information related to them than it is for 10-year-olds,” Price said.

Results from the University of Chicago’s National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows older adults participated well into their 70s and 80s.

The study showed that overall health was much more important than age when it came to sexual activity. As health declined after the early 70s, so did sexual activity. Of those who remained sexually active, nearly half reported a sexual problem.

Lack of desire was a problem for 43 per cent of women, with 39 per cent reporting vaginal dryness.

Thirty-seven per cent of men reported erectile dysfunction. Thirty-eight per cent of men and 20 per cent of women had discussed their sexual problems with a doctor.

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About the author

Jenny W