Older Women Know What Older Men Like : Sex Doesn’t Belong to the Young, Poll Finds

Older women are far more sexually savvy than men their age, but men know how to enjoy it more, a survey reported today.

A poll of 171 people in Texas aged 55 to 90 years old showed that women know better than men that aging slows some sexual responses, but when it comes to being able to function--if you use it, you probably won’t lose it.

Men, on the other hand, scored higher in parts of the survey measuring their interest, satisfaction and participation in a variety of sex acts.

“Contrary to myths, this study shows older men and women still have sexual desires and are capable of fulfilling them,” said Beverly Johnson, a researcher at the University of Texas, Austin, who conducted the survey.

“Older men are more interested in sex and older women are more interested in relationships,” she said.

Johnson said her survey was of volunteers gleaned from newspaper advertisements and lectures and did not statistically represent the population. She said the average age of the 92 men and 69 women who took the survey was 66.

About 70% of both men and women said their actual participation in sex has decreased, but only 30% said their satisfaction had decreased as well.

When asked to rate on a scale of one to four their interest in a variety of sexual acts, men averaged 3.1 and women averaged 2.8, Johnson said.