Baby boomers have broken many taboos and transformed social norms, particularly around sexuality. As this generation grows older, is society’s view of older adults’ sexuality changing? Research suggests it is, even if some taboos persist.

As a specialist in sexuality and aging, I have been working on this topic for nearly 15 years and have observed growing interest in it.

The baby boomer generation’s greater comfort with sexuality may explain this trend. However, this openness — both in society at large and among baby boomers themselves — could obscure the more insidious ways ageism limits the possibilities for a fulfilling sex life in later years.

A more permissive approach to sexuality

Baby boomers witnessed — and actively participated in — major social and cultural changes in private life amid the women’s rights movement, progress made by sexual minorities and the sexual revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s.

While previous generations believed sex should take place within heterosexual marriage, should focus on penetrative sex and should serve the purpose of procreation, baby boomers embraced new sexual norms. Sex increasingly came to be seen as something that could be enjoyed outside marriage and heterosexual relationships, with pleasure as its primary goal.

These major transformations have had long-term effects. Studies comparing the sexual behaviours and attitudes of older adults across generations show that the baby boomer generation value sexuality more highly and are more permissive than previous generations.

The pressure to........

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