Lauren Harris

Thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, it isn't.

So part of it is that we couple sexuality with procreation.

And so when you are no longer able to have children, we just kind of think that the sex is over.

And of course, we know that sexuality and procreation are not synonyms that we have sex all the time without the intent of having kids.

But we kind of have this idea that as we get older, our bodies aren't able to have children anymore.

We also associate sexuality with youth and beauty.

Older adulthood is not really associated so much with youth and beauty.

And so when we kind of put those things together, we think of older adults as not able to have kids.

They're not attractive and consensual in conventional beauty standards.

And so we don't think of them as sexual beings anymore.

And that's really not the case.

We see older adults are having sex through their 70s and 80s, even sometimes into their 90s.

And so we continue to be sexual beings across our lifespan, even if it makes some young people a little uncomfortable.

It's funny.

I teach an adult development class and I ask my undergrads, you know, when would you like your sex life to end?

And they get a little uncomfortable about it.

We have this idea.

It's OK for young people.

It's OK for ourselves.