Many people believe that women often lose interest in their sex life as they get aged. However, a new study has suggested that women crave and value for sex even if they enter midlife and beyond. Researchers who took part in this study made this conclusion after analyzing the lives of 3,200 women for more than 15 years.
Women Highly Value Sex
The abstract of the study report was presented on September 28, at the Virtual Annual Meeting of the North American Menopause Society. Holly Thomas, lead author of the study revealed that a quarter of the women who were part of this study consider sex very important regardless of their age.
"The study showed substantial numbers of women still highly value sex, even as they get older, and it's not abnormal. If women are able to speak up with their partner and make sure that they're having sex that's fulfilling and pleasurable to them, then they're more likely to rate it as highly important as they get older," said Thomas, CNN reports.
Role of Socio-Cultural Factors in Sex
28 percent of the participants followed the traditional thoughts, and they tend to lose interest in sex life during their midlife. However, 27 percent of women revealed that sex has a huge value in their lives, throughout their 40s, 50s, and even 60s. Women who highly valued sex during their midlife hold high education, and they were less depressed. These women also had highly satisfying sexual encounters before they enter midlife.
According to researchers, socio-economic factors play a crucial role in determining the sexual life of a woman, as an educated woman will have a decent income, thus resulting in less stress.
Researchers noted that African American women valued sex even during their midlife, while Chinese and Japanese women consider sex as a less important thing in their lives, especially after crossing 40s.
"I do want to emphasize that it's much more likely to be due to socio-cultural factors than any biological factor. Women from different cultural groups have different attitudes ... different comfort levels about getting older ... and whether it's 'normal' for a woman to continue to value sex as she gets older," added Thomas.
However, 48 percent of the women who took part in the study valued healthy sex life as they entered menopause, but they finally lost interest in intimate encounters as they reach their 50s and 60s.
According to medical experts, women's estrogen levels will start falling during their midlife, and it causes the vulva and vaginal tissues to become thinner and drier. Apart from the drop in estrogen levels, several other medical conditions will also affect the libido of women, and thus many women used to lose interest in sexual life.
