A new survey has revealed that more than half over-65s say they don't get enough sex, while a third would happily go to bed with a new partner on the first date.
The report's authors, the charity Independent Age, say it challenges traditional attitudes to age in later life.
Exclusively for The Herald, 69-year-old Scottish Author Isla Dewar shares her own insights into the bedroom behaviour of passionate pensioners.
Read More: Older people say they are 'not having enough sex'
"If it’s a surprise to young folks that people over sixty-five are still sexually active, imagine how actual over sixty-fives feel. The libido lives, well excellent.
Good for me. Having sex, being desired is wonderful. It makes you feel young, a bit of an achiever, actually.
There is passion. Passion never goes away. It’s just that if you are heading for bed, it takes longer to get there. Especially if it’s upstairs.And yes, there are creaks and groans and aches. But usually your partner has them too. They become something to laugh about. They are almost a bonding thing.
People starting out in new relationships don’t pretend to be able to move with the same ease and grace they did when they were twenty. Now they offer maturity, experience and understanding. They know the joy of physical pleasure and take it whenever they can.
When it comes to loving someone new, unless that new someone is a glossy muscled partner they picked up at the Co-op twenty minutes ago when they snipped out for a box of teabags, there is usually a certain mutual empathy to ease any embarrassment.
The after-chat is often wonderful and amusing. Though I confess that after sex I usually need not a cigarette but eight hours sleep followed by a bowl of porridge. My husband is the same so the pleasure is extended till morning. Only the news can spoil the glow.
I’m not surprised to find many older people have unprotected sex. It isn’t that sex doesn’t occur to them. It does. Preparing for it doesn’t. Most women I know would fret more about removing their clothes in front of a new man than about using a contraceptive. They are past getting pregnant, and, worry about catching any kind of disease is lost in the wonderful heat of the moment.
They are over sixty-five and still loving love. Good for them. Good for us all."
Isla Dewar is the author of several novels, including Keeping Up With Magda and Women Talking Dirty (1996), which was turned into a film starring Helena Bonham Carter. Her next book, It Takes One To Know One, will be published later this year.
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