Popular culture is inundated with sexual enhancing medications promising everything from the correction of erectile dysfunction to allowing increased enthusiasm and rejuvenation in the bedroom. If one were to non-scientifically analyze the portrayal of middle-aged and late-middle-aged sexual activity amongst men by the commercial media, it seems that decreased sexual desire amongst males will inevitably lead to an entire lack of activity as one ages: unless, of course, one is able to rise to the occasion through the miracles of pharmacy.
[...] Thrust in this framework, performance-enhancing sexual medications aimed at providing aging men with induced erections continue the sublimation of achievable sexuality in favour of intercourse (and the perception of youth and virility) [Armstrong, 2006]. The existent commercial endorsements for Viagra, Levitra and Cialis perpetuate the experience of shame among men who have difficulty or an inability to naturally achieve a penile erection, increasing the sensation of inadequacy, whereas women feel they are no longer pleasing or alluring to their partner. [...]
[...] Following Armstrong, sexuality should be understood as a greater intimacy than merely the act of penetrating intercourse; and the means whereby Papahariton explores the factors contributing to lasting and to continuing activity in the older population expanded upon at length. Until further research is accomplished, our comprehension of the topic will remain limited; however, the framework has been established, and the path forward is set. Works Cited Armstrong, Laura Lynne. “Barriers to Intimate Sexuality: Concerns and Meaning-Based Therapy Approaches,” in The Humanist Psychologist. [...]
[...] While EMAS-SFQ allows for an assessment tool to explore sexual activity and its correlation on testosterone in the aging male population, it does not fully account for the myriad factors influencing sexual change in the aging male population. For instance, the social and medical factors of a particular patient's condition contribute to the development of erectile disorder or decreased sexual activity as they age which could prove irrespective of natural decreases in testosterone. Many men remain sexually active well into their older age, and find decreases to their OSF as a result of medical prescriptions for numerous other health complications ranging from heart to anti-anxiety medication or an alternation in their living situation (by moving to an extended care or retirement home, for example) [Hillman, 2008]. [...]
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