Drawing on the interplay of gender, ageing, and sexuality, the aim of this essay is twofold. On the one hand, to describe what we are calling the process of "eroticization of old age" and to explore through content analysis of the gerontological discourse how gender differences are dissolved in the attempt to demonstrate that the decrease in sexual activity in old age is replaced by a unique and intense sexual pleasure. On the other hand, to analyze, based on ethnographical accounts on elderly groups and associations, as senior citizen clubs and retirees organizations, the way in which these discourses on the ageing body and sexuality are differently perceived and evaluated by older men and women. The essay is therefore an attempt to present the difficulties faced by contemporary gerontology in order to promote eroticism in old age as well as an inseparable relationship between sexual pleasure and health.
Old Age; Sexuality; Gender; Gerontology