Reclaiming Sex in the Lives of Gender and Sexually Diverse Older Women

• In Event: 347 - Regular Session. Sociology of Sexuality: Mature Women's Sexualities

Abstract

This paper will report on the preliminary findings of research conducted with a sample of sexual and gender diverse women (LGBTIQQ) from Australia who began their sexual lives from the mid-1960s onwards and are now moving into the later years of their lives. The research explores the embodied experiences of the women aged 55+ and how they negotiate and perform gender, sexual feelings, practices and relationships. The research findings disrupt linear models of aging that assume binaries of healthy/unhealthy tied to chronological age and heteronormativity, using a feminist intersectionality approach to understanding the complexity of women’s lives and the multiple subject positions they hold within diverse contexts. While the overall discussion of older LGBTIQQ women is rarely mentioned in many areas of academic inquiry, even more disturbing is the lack of detailed empirical research which actually explores the sexual practices and relationships of this group of women. If sexuality is mentioned it primarily focuses on identity issues and neglects the embodied experiences of these women and how they negotiate intimate relationships. Therefore, this paper seeks to challenge the invisibility of sexual and gender diverse older women within the general community, sociology, gerontology and other fields of academic inquiry and practice. As increasing numbers of women from the ‘baby boom’ generation reach retirement, sexual minority communities, the general public and aged care programs and facilities will need to address the diverse needs of LGBTIQQ women (and men) to ensure non-discriminatory and supportive services.

Author

• Moira Carmody, University of Western Sydney