Erotic American writer Jane Juska’s most famous scribbling is not to be found in one of the books she wrote about senior sexploits, but in the personal classifieds of a literary magazine.
Long before the advent of dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr, a divorced and lonely Ms Juska took out a small advertisement in The New York Review of Books that would partially smash the taboo on promiscuity among the elderly. The 1999 notice read: “Before I turn 67 – next March – I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me.”
Not to be mistaken with trollop, the reference was intentionally cryptic in order to attract the attention of intellectual suitors. Anthony Trollope was a 19th Century novelist among whose quotes was the quizzical, “Don’t let love interfere with your appetite. It never does with mine”.
Ms Juska, who died late last year, succeeded in receiving 63 responses from men of all backgrounds and ages. However, they did have one thing in common – the ability to weave well-written prose, naturally.
In a tribute published by The New York Times Magazine last month, she was quoted as saying: “For you – a lover of Trollope, Dickinson, Chekhov – fine writing arouses like the male body.”
Little did she know at the time that she would go on to become a controversial author herself, with three chronicles of her adventures and misadventures – A Round-Heeled Woman, Unaccompanied Women and The Last Thing To Go: Age, Sex and Desire – plus a raunchy twist on Pride and Prejudice – Mrs Bennet Has Her Say.
Interviews with Ms Juska regularly revealed that she had few regrets about how she chose to amuse herself in old age. And chances are that her naughty trysts led to better physical as well as emotional health, according to medical experts.
A 2016 Michigan State University study found that older women who had regular orgasms were less likely to develop high blood pressure. Unfortunately, the results were not mirrored in men, who were more likely to overstrain their stamina to achieve climax.
On the flipside, another study found that men who ejaculated fewer than 21 times a month were more prone to develop prostate cancer. Funded by the US National Cancer Institute, the research concluded: “More frequent ejaculation in the absence of risky sexual behaviours could represent an important means of reducing the profound medical costs and physical and psychological side effects of unnecessary diagnosis and treatment of low-risk tumours …”
Do you consider regular sex keeps you healthier? Does the idea of seniors bonking seem tacky? Have you ever used a online dating app? Do you think pensioners should be offered concessions on sex toys?
Related articles:
Sex and the senior woman
What women want in bed
What men want in bed
