Evening star., 1961-10-22
Seventh Of q Series


Seventh Of Series
----~-~
talk with her parents about her
problems with romance, and
the girl replies, "Oh, what do
they know about love-they've
been married for 20 yearsl"
That's the popular picture.
The exciting aspects Of love,
the passionate, the thrilling,
are associated with the early
years Of marriage; in middle
age-just cooling embers.
Nothing could be farther
from the truth. Youthful love
is wonderful, to be sure. But
mature love, in its physical as
well as its other aspects, can
be more wonderful still.
The intimate relationship Of
married love has the potential
for growth, both spiritually and
physically, that youth can only
hope for but middle age can
actually achieve.
Sweep Away Myths
More on this later. But first
1t is necessary to sweep away
some myths and miSconcep-
tions. For while we seem to go
all out in our movies and novels
to propagandize illicit sex, ab-
normal sex and neurotic sex,
we throw precious little light
upon the potentiality for a
healthy and happy physical re-
lationship in holy matrimony
We seem more inclined to
bring the Sordid out in the
open while we sweep the sacred
under the rug.
The first myth to be ex-
ploded is that sex life simply
tapers off and dies somewhere
in middle age.
The fact is that physical
capacity continues not only
through middle age, but
through old age as well. Like
any other capacity-eyesight
or hearing. for example-it
may become impaired and
often there is a gradual dimi-
mutton over the years. But to
expect a cessation at any point
in life is as physiologically in
accurate as to expect a ceSSa-
ton Of sight or hearing.
AS for women, the late DR..
Abraham Stone, one Of the
leading urologists Of our time,
stated: "The end of the ca
pacity to have children in no
way signifies the end Of sexual
capacity. although many people
,stiIl believe this. The fact is
that for many reasons. one
being the removal of the fear
Of pregnancy, many women
have greater desire and re-
spond more actively after
menopause than in the early
years Of their marriage"
Late in Life
As for the male. DR.. ston@
asserted: Men. too. can con-
tinue to function sexually until
late in life, although with d.
minishing frequency and ca
paeity. The important thing is
that physical relations can con-
tinue between married couples
into their 70s-perhaps even
80s."
But DR.. Stone, from his wide
experience both as a physician
and marriage counselor,
noted that many couples cease
sexual activity or develop NAL
adjustments in later life be-
cause they think sex for the
older person is not seemly."
He told of a 65-year-old
woman who confessed to her
doctor shyly, "I still enjoy
physical relations. Isn't it a
shame?"
Far from it," her doctor
commented. "Once older mar
ried couples realize there Is
nothing unseemly, shameful or
degrading about sexual activity
as long as the desire and the
capacity last, they will have
gone a long way toward achiev-
ing a more satisfying life as
they reach old age"
What Doctors Found
Two Duke University scien-
lists, Drs. Gustave Newman and
Claude Nichols, reported in 1860
on a study Of $50 men and
women ranging in age from go
to SO. An excerpt from their
findings:
Although older people ex-
perience a decline in sexual &C
tivity and strength Of the sex
ual drive given the condi-
tions of reasonably good health
and partners who are also
physically healthy, elderly per-
sons continue to be sexually
active into their seventh, eighth
and ninth decades"
The myth of male impotence
as a great peril of middle age
likewise needs exploding-es-
pecially because this widely
held belief produces in many
men a fear of impotence that,
like so many fears, may create
the very thing that is feared.
DR.. Frank P. Davis, formerly
of the Oklahoma State Board
of Medical Examiners, has
stated, There is probably no
one thing that will so depreSs
the spirits Of a man as will the
fear Of losing his sexual
powers"
The fact is that impotency is
not a normal part Of life, at
any age. The male genital sys-