Virgin Territory

On seeing a void, and filling it

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Let me share something. Aging is a shit show. It’s not a “journey,” unless a trip to the abyss is your thing. It’s not “just a number,” because other people see us as just that. And, unless I’m missing something, these are not the “golden years.”

Betty Friedan said, “Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”

Damn, Betty. What the hell were you smoking? Or maybe, you should have partook.

I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade, but getting older is some hard shit. Especially in a youth-obsessed society such as ours here in the U.S.

When I was growing up, I was a vehement proponent of the “just a number” fiction. I never looked at my aunts and uncles, for example, and thought of them as “old.”

When I was in my twenties, I was involved with a fifty-two-year-old man—older than my father—and I was able to hold my own with his erudite circle of friends who thought I was funny and wise beyond my years.

Yet, I’m struggling, because I feel time passing like a runaway train and there’s never enough of it, you know? There’s still so much that I desire and need to achieve.

I’m hoping that this newsletter, or “column” as I’d prefer to call it, will help me sort out the frustration that has consumed me over the past couple of years. Frustation over not being able to find a freelance gig in my field, for one. Again, because of the year on my birth certificate. Perhaps, if you grapple with the sense that you’re being discounted, because you’re getting older, as I do, it will help you, too.

Sex. That’s what I plan to focus on, here. With you. Not literally, of course, although that conjures up all sorts of titillating possibilities. But, rather, I’d love to ignite a provocative and honest conversation about aging and sexuality.

Why? Because I love sex, even though I’m currently not having it, other than with myself. And I’ll be addressing that, too. Much like the fading, yet still-sensual bloom in my cover image, age has not withered me in that regard. Yet, people of a certain age are rarely seen as highly sexual. And, although I can’t single-handedly change that, I can certainly rail against it, and I’m hoping you’ll join me because I’m sick to my soul at the way older individuals are perceived.

And this is virgin territory for me because even though I’ve written sexually-themed stories, I’ve never taken the deep dive that I intend to take in Sex. With an Older Broad.

Speaking of, if I have to see one more Medicare supplement commercial while watching CNN, I’m going to pull my (still natural brown) hair out. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to smack the shit out of those actors. Ugh. Check out the latest one, with “Martha.” You’ll want to strangle her ass, as well as the agist imbeciles who greenlit that particular marketing ploy.

It’s as if they just had to get someone who looks as if she “smells like an old lady.” A particularly vile observation that I hate with every fiber of my being.

Back to the business at hand. Sex toys. We’ll talk about those. Sexy films. I’ll post my favorite scorchers and hopefully, you’ll share yours. Sex that hurts like a motherfucker. In other words, vaginal atrophy. Yep, I’ll hit on that, too.

“The Aging Penis.” How’s that for a conversation starter? Nothing is sacred here, guys. We’re going to go for all of it. In fact, we’re going to FUCK. THIS. PLACE. UP. In a good way.

Too, although I want to be as real as possible here, I plan to include bits and pieces of a novel I’m working on. Yes. Fiction. Because nothing gets the juices flowing like a bit of creative role-playing, yeah?

If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for reading. I have only one thing left to say:

“Gird your loins. I’m coming.”

© Sherry McGuinn, 2023. All Rights Reserved.