A Qualitative Exploration of Late Midlife Women's Understanding of Their Sexuality: Coming of Age During the Women's Movement and Sexual Revolution

Women's sexuality post menopause has been neglected in the sexuality research. When it has been addressed the focus has been on decline and dysfunction. A qualitative phenomenological study devoted to understanding women's lived experiences as sexual beings best lends itself to understanding women's midlife sexuality as relevant to them.;Gaining understanding of midlife women's experiences of the sexuality provides psychologists with a more colorful picture of women's sexual experiences, empowers women, and contributes to clinical practice in sexuality.;Four women between the ages of 55--65 participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The women represented a range of sexual experiences, levels of sexual satisfaction, number of children, and marital statuses. Information from the interviews was analyzed using Jack's (1999) methodology, which was designed to refrain from placing preconceived understandings on women's experiences so that their own personal meanings and experiences can show themselves. Results supported the notion that women experience their sexuality as fluid and embrace it in vast and multidimensional ways. Additionally, support was offered to the importance of the relationship in women's sexual experiences and for the possibility for increased sexual agency with age.