What the stats say about sex after 40
Several prominent Canadian women, clearly just hitting their professional stride in mid-life, are emerging as icons of strength, confidence and enduring attractiveness.
Former prime minister Kim Campbell, 54, currently teaching at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, is involved with a man 22 years her junior. Hilary Weston, the 60-year-old lieutenant governor of Ontario, radiates poise and mature beauty. Former federal cabinet minister Barbara McDougall, now president of the Toronto-based Canadian Institute of International Affairs, remains a striking presence with her throaty, confident voice and flip of blond hair.
Mid-life women are also storming the barricades of broadcasting, long the exclusive preserve of dewy-skinned youngsters. Wendy Mesley, the seasoned political and cultural reporter who is the co-host of CBC-TV's current affairs show Disclosure is a 44-year-old, kinetic blond, fond of high heels and form-fitting clothes. And who would ever refer to the unattached Mary Walsh, 49, the effusive star of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, as a spinster?
Attractive middle-aged women shine
Even major U.S. networks, while still overwhelmingly populated by impossibly perfect young women, are beginning to acknowledge that "attractive" and "middle-aged" are not mutually exclusive terms. The cast of West Wing, the top-rated television series about working in the White House, includes one of the sexiest women on TV: C.J., the savvy, energetic press secretary played by Allison Janney, 41. To wit, Montreal-based Josey Vogels, author of the syndicated newspaper column and host of the television show My Messy Bedroom, says more and more middle-aged women are realizing that sex often improves with age. "When you are young, sex is something you dole out, and often define yourself by. But lots of older women are saying, ‘Thank God, I'm not defined by my appearance anymore, I can finally live my life the way I want,' and it frees them up."Sex begins at 40
In fact, solid statistical evidence supports the theory that sex gets better for women as they age. Masters and Johnson were the first out of the gate with their groundbreaking studies showing that women reach their sexual peak in their early to mid-40s, while men's performance begins to decline in their mid-20s. More recently, in 1999 a comprehensive study of sexual dysfunction at the University of Chicago reached some surprising conclusions about older women and sex. In a poll of more than 1,700 women, researchers found that women aged 40 to 60 had fewer sexual problems than younger women in areas ranging from lack of interest, to pain during intercourse, to anxiety about their sexual performance.
Problems in the bedroom do occur of course; the mood swings of menopause, for one, can disrupt sexual activity. And some middle-aged women, overwhelmed by the North American obsession with youth, find their self-esteem dropping with every extra pound, new wrinkle and grey hair. Toronto novelist Susan Swan, whose 1993 book, The Wives of Bath, has been made into a film, is an eloquent spokeswoman for the notion that, as she puts it, "sex begins at 40." Mid-life women should stop worrying about physical changes and concentrate instead on becoming the person they want to be, she says. "In my late 40s, I was living in New York City and I had a lot of romantic affairs," Swan, 56, and the mother of a 28-year-old daughter, recalls. "At that age, if you take care of yourself, you still look fairly youthful. I was surprised that a lot of young men still wanted to be with me. It's largely a question of attitude."
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Mid-life women are also storming the barricades of broadcasting, long the exclusive preserve of dewy-skinned youngsters. Wendy Mesley, the seasoned political and cultural reporter who is the co-host of CBC-TV's current affairs show Disclosure is a 44-year-old, kinetic blond, fond of high heels and form-fitting clothes. And who would ever refer to the unattached Mary Walsh, 49, the effusive star of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, as a spinster?
Attractive middle-aged women shine
Even major U.S. networks, while still overwhelmingly populated by impossibly perfect young women, are beginning to acknowledge that "attractive" and "middle-aged" are not mutually exclusive terms. The cast of West Wing, the top-rated television series about working in the White House, includes one of the sexiest women on TV: C.J., the savvy, energetic press secretary played by Allison Janney, 41. To wit, Montreal-based Josey Vogels, author of the syndicated newspaper column and host of the television show My Messy Bedroom, says more and more middle-aged women are realizing that sex often improves with age. "When you are young, sex is something you dole out, and often define yourself by. But lots of older women are saying, ‘Thank God, I'm not defined by my appearance anymore, I can finally live my life the way I want,' and it frees them up."Sex begins at 40
In fact, solid statistical evidence supports the theory that sex gets better for women as they age. Masters and Johnson were the first out of the gate with their groundbreaking studies showing that women reach their sexual peak in their early to mid-40s, while men's performance begins to decline in their mid-20s. More recently, in 1999 a comprehensive study of sexual dysfunction at the University of Chicago reached some surprising conclusions about older women and sex. In a poll of more than 1,700 women, researchers found that women aged 40 to 60 had fewer sexual problems than younger women in areas ranging from lack of interest, to pain during intercourse, to anxiety about their sexual performance.
Problems in the bedroom do occur of course; the mood swings of menopause, for one, can disrupt sexual activity. And some middle-aged women, overwhelmed by the North American obsession with youth, find their self-esteem dropping with every extra pound, new wrinkle and grey hair. Toronto novelist Susan Swan, whose 1993 book, The Wives of Bath, has been made into a film, is an eloquent spokeswoman for the notion that, as she puts it, "sex begins at 40." Mid-life women should stop worrying about physical changes and concentrate instead on becoming the person they want to be, she says. "In my late 40s, I was living in New York City and I had a lot of romantic affairs," Swan, 56, and the mother of a 28-year-old daughter, recalls. "At that age, if you take care of yourself, you still look fairly youthful. I was surprised that a lot of young men still wanted to be with me. It's largely a question of attitude."
Click to continue....
Page 2 of 3
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