“Best and Mightiest Aphrodite”
Hey, this is so cool! I just received the “Best of the North Bay 2007” award for “Best and Mightiest Aphrodite” AKA “wrinkly sex kitten” by the North Bay Bohemian newspaper ! I love it!
This happened the same week I had cataract surgery. It all fits together, doesn’t it? 😉 Here’s the article:
The Bohemian’s
Best and Mightiest Aphrodite
If gaining entrance to the love-ins of the ’60s was contingent upon being mortal, Aphrodite would likely have traded in her spot on Mt. Olympus for a ticket. Some 40-odd years later, would this goddess-turned-mortal still be sexy? Somewhere after menopause, she’d probably have traded in her Botticelli curls for a Diane Sawyer coif. Popping Viagra, suitors would still come knocking to woo this now mature and wrinkly sex kitten.
Wrinkly sex kitten? Yeah, why not. Enter the world of Joan Price, who at 63 is pshawing the way that pop culture ridicules older people who still have sex. The Sebastopol resident has written Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty, which has become something of a bible for sextua-, septua- and octogenarians wanting to restore their sex lives. She’s packed the book with exercises to keep love muscles tuned up, testimonials by older women doing it and her own story about falling for the love of her life at age 57. This author-cheerleader has been touring throughout the country, giving workshops to women–and sometimes men–who are 50-plus and want to keep their sex drive alive. “When I do a workshop,” she says giggling, “it’s sort of an ice breaker the first time I say ‘lubricant’ or ‘vaginal tissue’ or ‘clitoris’ or ‘sex toy.'”
To Price, mature desire is not an oxymoron. In fact, she and her husband don’t see any reason why wisdom shouldn’t be sexy. “[My husband] sees wrinkles as sexy,” she says. “He sees an aging body and face, certainly, as extremely attractive, because they reflect what a woman has experienced and learned and given to the world and brought back to herself. Someone without them is sort of suspect.”
Price also has a popular blog, www.betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.com, where she and her readers discuss issues surrounding aging. In one recent post, Price brainstorms about different terms to describe older people: senior, elderly, mature, etc. She was prompted to write this post after reading a newspaper article that referred to a political conference attendee as a “little old lady.” Although the article wasn’t talking about her, per se, she took it as an affront to her demographic as a whole. On her blog, she quipped, “Don’t call me a little old lady . . . Call me Joan.” Whatever you call her, she’s our mighty, middle-aged Aphrodite.
Joanie, Amen, sister. Sex Goddess. Sex Priestess. Sheesh! Now that’s fun. Plus, sounds like your work couldn’t be more stimulating. You rock, woman!
What you do must be a labor of love, meaning you are a crusader of sorts. I suspect you have had your share of insensitive remarks from those who are less enlightened than we would like and view sex with the parochial attitudes that lurk in the subconscious of most of us. So it must take a certain amount of courage to do what you do, and that is all the more reason to appreciate it. People of our age are usually in the most powerful positions, so it could be said we need this more than most. Just think: sometime in the future you could be regarded as a pioneering prophet and statues will be erected in your honor.
Ooops again!
I could have said, come on girls and guys!
Sorry, I live in Alabama, which often feels like a battleground to me. I must be staying really woman focused without realizing I’m doing this.
This blog is a good place for men and women (and perhaps older non hetero lovers) to discuss how we can get together. What we discover here we can use in our own lives wherever we are.
My younger friends (I don’t have children.) have been a great help in teaching me how to negotiate the internet and do things like post comments on blogs.
Gratitude, thank you for the endorsement! I appreciate it, and yes, I do feel I’m on a mission.
You note that few readers are commenting. Many people are reading this blog, but it’s true that very few comment. I’d love to have more of you share what you think!
— Joan
Joan, congartulations on getting this award! You so deserve it. You go girl!
It makes all the difference to me to know that there are other women “out there” who are older and sexy. Hearing that someone got an award for this is even more encouraging. Joan has the courage to stand up to the narrow minded people who think sex is only for the young, and that women past childbearing age are no longer sexually appealing. And she stands up magnificently!
What does that say about our popular culture, that women who can no longer have children are generally seen as not attractive anymore?
We women who are post menopausal need to stand up for ourselves. We are a huge segment of the total U.S. population right now. We so need to resist the subtle and blatant messages of the prevailing paradigm and be who we really are. The simple fact is that a lot of us are still sexy, some of us maybe even more so than when we were younger! This combination of being older, wiser, accomplished, and fully sexual is truly awesome. Collectively we need to own how awesome we are.
I see the post menopausal phase of women’s lives as a potential laden time. Not everyone will want to continue being sexual and that’s fine too. The point is it’s a time when we can really blossom into who we are at our core.
It takes courage and discipline to stay in this place even if you’re like me, just doing this in your small corner of the world. Some people will be seriously bothered, sometimes they may rudely express this, and you can’t let that stop you. But then others will applaud you. Younger women will look up to you. Younger men may drool from afar. Friends your age will be inspired. It’s not easy to go against the grain and do something else instead, but the rewards are splendid.
We can all help each other with this. When one of us is brave enough to take a step toward older magnificence, many more will also take that step.
So Joan really deserves this award for being who she is — and — for being in the public eye about it. Thank you, Joan, for helping to pave the way and giving the rest of us a very visible role model.
I keep wondering, why are there so few comments on this blog? Are older women just not into this much internet? (I do know a 70 year old who doesn’t order anything on line because she doesn’t like the sign in process.) Come on girls! We have lots to talk about.