Skip to Main Content

Growing Old Disgracefully

 

 

 

 GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY    

 
 Are you approaching fifty and dreading the thought of ‘old age’? Worried about how you’re meant to dress and behave when you’re supposedly no longer young?
 
 Don’t be. While we’ve been fretting about our first grey hairs, minor wrinkles and inevitable cellulite, women over fifty have been blazing a trail, living it large and taking a youthful zest well into the third age. They’re nifty at fifty, sexy at sixty and simply inspiring at seventy. Let them inspire you!
 
Too old for sex?
 
A team of researchers from the University of Queensland have found that so-called ‘grumpy’ old men and women actually enjoy life more than younger adults. Wanobe (a site described as FaceBook for the over-50’s) in conjunction with the Parship internet dating site surveyed their over 50’s and discovered that sex on a first date is twice as likely for over 50’s singles than their under-40 counterparts.   20% of ‘mature’ daters surveyed said they just wanted ‘casual fun’ and 19% described themselves as being ‘game for anything’.! Ooh er.
  
Psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Lukats who lead the research said ‘This proves that the over 50’s no longer feel they have to dedicate their lives to gardening and looking after the grandchildren. The idea that this age group is no longer interested in a sexual relationship is simply a misconception.’
 
Ready for coach tours and cruises?
 
 
Marketeers are waking up to the over 50’s as an energetic, lucrative and, therefore, ‘sexy’ market. From a simple holiday company for the over 50’s Saga has now embraced all aspects of the ‘mature’ lifestyle. Saga ‘experiences’ now include driving a tank, salsa, tango and le-roc, driving a Ferrari,  paintballing (on foot or in a tank) zorbing (rolling around in a giant ball), powerboating, skydiving, bobsleighing, diving with sharks, llama trekking, power-kiting, bungee-jumping, abseiling, scuba diving, circus skills….. etc etc.   Phew! Whatever happened to quilting and bridge?
 
And when they’re not out having fun, women over fifty are combining their caring natures with their growing sense of adventure. With companies like i-to-i.com more ‘mature’ women are volunteering for exciting projects such as ecology conservation in Africa, Australia, Ecuador and Uganda; building simple homes for the rural poor in Honduras, Costa Rica, Kenya and Vietnam; community work with underprivileged children in Sri Lanka, Bangalore, the Phillipines, Kenya and Calcutta and teaching English in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Cambodia and Nepal. 
       
So – the question is, are you inspired yet?
 
Over to you. Why not tell us what inspires you about the over-50’s in your life – your friends, mums, sisters, people you know who’re living it large….. Click here to visit our forums or post a quick comment below....
 
 
 
 
     
Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (3 votes)
Related articles: 
55 and Fabulous!
You Know You've Hit 60 When...
You Know You've Hit 50 When...