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Why Older Women Need More Than One Lover
It’s not just for the health benefits, but that helps
Sex and the City’s Mr. Big, Chris Noth, is about to welcome baby № 2 this year. He’s 65. Mick Jagger welcome baby № 8 when he was 73. Billy Joel became a dad again at age 69. Ditto Steve Martin, Nikki Sixx, Eddie Murphy, Hugh Grant, Alec Baldwin.
We’re used to hearing about men having babies well into old age (guys, just stop — your sperm is old, and doing no good), which obviously means they’re still having sex (thanks, Viagra) well into old age. We may question their desire to start over with a baby, but no one questions their desire for sex.
We are a little less generous when it comes to hearing about women having sex well into old age. That’s unfortunate because many older women actually want sex, and are getting it.
In fact, in one Women Health Initiative study of 27,347 postmenopausal women, ages 50 to 79 years, the women who were dissatisfied with the amount of sex they were having wanted more — not less — sex.
So, how can they get it?
Marriage isn’t a guarantee, given the numbers of sexless marriages. And because women typically live longer than men, many older women are solo — they’ve either lost a partner to death or divorce, or they don’t have a…