Lesbin Sex at Menopause: Better than Ever _ Esther Rothblum and Ellen Cole, re- 7searchers in psychology, decided two years ;,ago to survey women about sex at meno- ipause. They found that published research fpresented menopause as a negative experi- ‘:ence for women because its data was based ;-only on the experiences of women who jsought treatment for uncomfortable symp- itoms. Another problem with the existing gesearch was that none of it had studied Iglesbians. E Their first step was to contact lesbians Vermont and interview them in detail about their sexuality after menopause. The esearchers asked these women to talk about every aspect of their sexual lives fore, during, and after menopause. From ’ ese responses Rothblum and Cole devel- oped an open-ended questionnaire. E They then placed ads in several publi- ‘cations asking women who were meno- iiausal to complete the questionnaires. Zlhey received 41 responses and have iummarized the results, which follow. E The mean age of the 41 women was 51.5 years, and the majority of women indicated that they were either lesbian or liisexual. The respondents’ length of time lince their last menstrual period averaged 5 ,ears and most of them were seeking some rt of medical care for menopausal symp- ms. , The majority of women questioned ‘ere in a committed relationship with a ner and currently engaged in sexual tivity. Forty-six percent stated that fre- ency of sexual activity had remained the e since the onset of menopause with 5% indicating that sexual activity had creased. When questioned if there had leen a change in the type of sexual activity, rougher sex with penetration, ability to sustain orgasm for a longer period, in- creased holding, hugging, cuddling, more manual and genital sex, and a greater focus on safer sex. Several women indicated that changes in their sexual activity were not necessarily related to menopause, but in- stead due to such factors as “the timely mellowing of our relationship.” When asked specifically about the quality of their sexual experiences since menopause, 27% expressed a decrease in quality and 38% indicated either no change or increased quality of experiences. Rothblum and Cole asked the respon- dents to indicate if they felt that they had a sex problem and whether it was new since menopause. Seventy-six percent of the women responded “no”. Sixty-six percent of the respondents indicated that their level of sexual desire and interest in sex had either not changed or had increased since menopause. In terms of their sexual partners re- sponse to them, 54% of the women had not noticed any change. Of those that noticed changes, women were puzzled as to whether the changes were really related to menopause or other factors. When the questions concentrated on positive changes in their lives since meno- pause, the majority of women indicated that they of the enjoyed absence of men- struation. Rothblum and Cole interpret their findings cautiously. The small sample size may be biased toward a healthy outlook on menopause. To the best of their knowl- edge, the study is the first on the sexual attitudes and behaviors of lesbians at menopause. 1% said that there was no change in the The authors conclude that it is pos- 30 Ave es of activities that they enjoyed since sible that if all women, lesbian and non- B H. t ’ e onset of menopause. Twenty-nine per- lesbian, could be free of heterosexist han- Ab U VI ng on nt indicated that there was a change. gups about sexual functioning and the ( 0V9 T CARES) iimments‘ included increased interest in (Confirmed Onpage 14) T Insurance No Charge for D Accepted Phone Consultation B u _ David M. Ross, ACSW PhD Certified Clinical Social Worker Individual, Couples & Group Therapy Psychotherapy Boll H l_°.O. BOX 157 96 SouflE1mUn:)L:1sSetreet ‘ (802) 862-3101 Bristol, VT 05443 Burlington, Vt. 05401 _ & 105 Hill St., Barre, Vt. 05641 (802) 479-2115 December 1989 Forconfidenfial AIDS Information Call 1 -800-882-AIDS Join OITM ! Come to our Next Meeting Monday, Dec. 11 th