A Creative Writing Workshop on Sexuality and Ageing: A Spanish Pilot Case Study

Ieva Stončikaitė,Núria Mina-Riera

doi:10.3390/soc10030057

Abstract

Negative stereotypes about old age abound in our present-day society, which often considers older people as sexually incapable or even asexual. On the other hand, active ageing ideologies foster the practice of sex in later life as a sign of healthy and active ageing. The aim of this pilot case study was to examine the impact that poetry on sexuality, ageing and creativity had on older individuals. In total eight participants, aged 49–76, participated in a workshop offered by the University of Lleida (Spain). The initial hypothesis was that the participants, following the example set by the poems, would produce pieces of creative writing in which they voiced their own concerns and experiences about sexuality in later life from the distance that metaphor grants. While some of the participants’ writings engaged with the poems that deal with sexuality in older age, none of the participants’ creative pieces contained explicit instances of sexual experiences. The analysis of the participants’ creative pieces suggests that: first, they regard intimacy in older age as essential; and second, their unwillingness to write about sexuality in older age is partly rooted in their upbringing during Franco’s dictatorial regime, in which sexuality for non-reproductive aims was constructed as immoral.

Highlights

Negative stereotypes about old age abound in our present-day society, which tends to value youth and beauty and consider older people as sexually incapable or even asexual
The aim was to get a better understanding of the perception of middle and later life sexuality and intimacy through creative writing inspired by two well-known contemporary women writers, namely Erica Jong and Lorna Crozier
While some of the participants’ writings engaged with both Jong and Crozier’s respective poems as regards sexuality in older age, none of the participants’ creative pieces contained instances of sexual experiences in older age. Such an omission was partly discouraging given the open discussions about older age and sexuality encouraged by the workshop leaders and the poems themselves

Summary

Introduction

Negative stereotypes about old age abound in our present-day society, which tends to value youth and beauty and consider older people as sexually incapable or even asexual. An emerging interest in sex in later life is related to shifting understandings of the process of ageing itself in which older people are perceived as old and sexually incapable at a much later point in their lives in comparison to prior decades. Research findings show that getting older does not imply the loss of interest in sex, romance, intimate touch or emotional contact, all of which continue to be significant and necessary aspects of human lives [3,7,8,9]. As a matter of fact, sexually-active aged individuals report that they practise sex not because it benefits their health, as highlighted in the medicalised discourse on successful ageing, but because of mere pleasure, personal fulfilment and even a sense of spirituality [3,8,11]. Research literature reveals that sex for ageing people may be seen as a new awakening that brings greater intensity to sexual experiences and less urgency to enjoy them [3,8]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion