OLD AGE AND SEXUALITY OF THIRD AGE MEN

Abstract

Sexuality in old age is a taboo subject covered by a double load of prejudices that collides the idyllic, asexual and de-eroticized image of the elderly person with the idea of sin and transgression that is done about sexuality by reducing it to the practice of normalized sex only between young people and adults. The purpose of this article focuses on the discussion of strategies used by elderly men to maintain their sexual life and, with that, the validation of their masculinities in the canons of patriarchy. For this, we chose a methodology focused on an interdisciplinary approach resulting from a scientific initiation research carried out in a medium-sized city in the interior of the Amazon with young elderly men, between 60 and 65 years old, who fall into the "third age" category, that is, men who enjoy social prestige and consumption power beyond the satisfaction of basic needs. The discussion in this work leads us to the understanding that the elderly men of the third age who were part of the sample of this research make up the experience of their sexualities in the canons of negotiated and transgressive practices under the veil of patriarchy.