(What I Know About) My Parents' Sex Life

via Daily Bedpost by Em & Lo on 6/19/08

Photo: Justine Cooper

Christen Clifford is a performer and writer whose controversial show BabyLove (it's about motherhood and sexuality...more on that next week) is now Off Broadway. Her newest show, (What I Know About) My Parents' Sex Life goes to the other end of the spectrum: elder sex. (We hear you saying "ewww" in the back row there.) It runs for four performances starting tonight at soloNOVA at P.S. 122 in NYC.

Em & Lo: Can you describe this show in a nutshell?

Christen Clifford: It's a mixture of what I know about my parents' sex life, what I imagine about it, my erotic feelings toward them, and also about elderly sexuality in the U.S. in general.
 
Why do you think so many people are grossed out by elder sex? Were you, when you first started thinking about this show?

I'm not grossed out by it at all. Sexuality and sensuality don't disappear as you age.  I don't want to give up my sexual life just because of age and the medical difficulties that it sometimes brings.

And why do you think so many people have a problem with the idea of their own parents having sex in particular? We should be happy for them, right? Yet why do so many of us find it so disturbing?

I can't speak for anyone else, but like most people, I thought of my parents as sexless. Then when my father died I found his medical records, which showed that he had requested a prescription for Viagra not long after my mother died. He stated that he had not had sex since she went into a nursing home, and that meant they had been having sex before she went into the nursing home, when she was quite ill.

I was definitely disturbed by this, but then fascinated and happy for them that their sexual life had continued through old age and illness. It's certainly what I would want for myself, though it took a bit of thinking to come to this conclusion!

Is this why there is so little research into mature sexuality?

I think older people are seen as sexless in our society. The first large-scale study of sexuality in adults over the age of 57 (the largest growing segment of the U.S. population) was just released last year.  And I think societal attitudes equate sexuality with youth and fertility, and the media certainly reinforces this idea, when in truth everyone has a sexual life that changes throughout the course of a lifetime.

Do you think senior citizens are having more sex these days? If so, what are some of the consequences of this change?

People are living longer, healthier lives. This does bring about problems: NBC reported that 20 percent of new HIV cases are in senior citizens! Most doctors don't ask if their older patients are sexually active or teach them about STDs. They should.

So, Viagra: a good thing for elder sex, or a bummer for women who thought they were done with sex with their husbands?

Dunno, it depends, I've heard both sides of that argument. I just think it would be nice if a little bit of that research money were put into women's sexual response.

So, we have to ask: what's the deal with granny porn?

My favorite title is "Fuck Me Like It's 1945."  It's reassuring in some way.

Do you think you'll still be having sex with you're 70? 80? 90?

I hope so.  Maybe my husband and I will get into a sexually permissive nursing home!   We'll put on some Prince and I'll say "Fuck me like it's 1999, honey, only be careful of your heart."

Which do you think you're more likely to be indulging in as a senior citizen: sex or masturbation? Or a healthy balance of the two?

I suspect I'll still be doing both, just like I do now. The libido never gives up.

P.S. 122 and soloNOVA present
 
(What I Know About) My Parents' Sex Life

a.k.a. Fuck Me Like It's 1945

written and performed by Christen Clifford

Thursday, June 19 @ 9 p.m.

Saturday, June 21 @ 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 22 @ 4 p.m.

Wednesday, June 25 @ 9 p.m.

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