The Taboo of Senior Sexuality as a Challenge to Contemporary Geragogy

Abstract

The population is ageing and, according to demographers, this phenomenon will be subject to even greater intensification. Despite the fact that the specific problems of people in the autumn of life are increasingly recognised, we still have to deal with ageism, and topics such as senior sexuality remain a taboo. In addition, the prevailing consumerism and the cult of youth and the body seem to move any possible discussion to the margins of social life. Besides, the existence of numerous myths and stereotypes preserves the not always truthful picture of the sexual activity of older people. At the same time, the social sciences increasingly extend the necessity of learning into old age, and the task of the education should be to break senior-related taboos of various kinds. Moreover, we can recently witness an increasingly apparent need for the education which should address both the older people themselves and the rest of the society, shape the attitude of understanding and acceptance, and combat stereotypes and ignorance related to the problems affecting this age group, which in turn, would have the effect of improving the quality of their lives. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the taboo of senior sexuality should become the subject of interest and a challenge for contemporary geragogy. This paper was inspired by interviews with seniors and therefore its topic is outlined on the basis of the perspective of those concerned.

English translation: Anna Moroz-Darska

Modernisation of the journal's operations and translation into the English language of articles published in Ars Educandi in 2012-2017 were financed with funds from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as a part of the task Science Promotion Activity (pl. DUN).

The task ‘The implementation of the editorial module on the platform of Uniwersyteckie Czasopisma Naukowe – a system facilitating the editing and management of the academic journal Ars Educandi‘ was financed as a part of contract 661/P-DUN/2018 of 12.06.2018 from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education designated for the promotion of science.

The task ‘The creation of a modern online version of the academic journal Ars Educandi through the implementation of the publication module on the platform of Uniwersyteckie Czasopisma Naukowe and the handling of international indexing databases’ was financed as a part of contract 661/P-DUN/2018 of 12.06.2018 from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education designated for the promotion of science.

The task ‘Preparation of the English language version of the last 6 annual issues (2012-2017) of the academic journal Ars Educandi and their publication online’ was financed as a part of contract 661/P-DUN/2018 of 12.06.2018 from funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education designated for the promotion of science.