Questioning the 'Viagrization' of (Hetero)Sexual Ageing

The chapter explores the impacts of Viagra on older people’s sexuality and their sexual rights, questioning the current single-minded focus on Viagra’s physiological benefits and the ‘viagrization’ of older men’s sexuality arising from vascular discourses that reframe age related erectile decline as a disease (erectile ‘dysfunction’) to be individually surveilled and medically treated. The chapter challenges phallocentric, ageist discourses about older people’s sexuality by critiquing the idea that sexual rights in older age are synonomous with the right to access medical intervention to continue youthful and normative forms of sexuality. Instead, it argues that older people’s right to sexuality is better served by enabling access to comprehensive, age appropriate sexuality education that supports diverse and changing sexual expression throughout later life and is grounded in sexuality-positive approaches. The chapter begins by tracing the emergence of phallocentric discourses and their influence on sexuality and ageing: the perspectives of medical specialists and general practitioners are presented to examine how decisions about ‘the legitimate patient’ are made, showing how understanding access to treatment for age-related erectile dysfunction as the cornerstone of seniors’ right to sexuality actually limits their sexual expression. As a conclusion, while Viagra and other sexuo-pharmaceuticals are purported to have revolutionised older people’s sexuality, this chapter argues that they have highlighted how little we have achieved in relation to the sexual rights of older women and men. Prescribing medications to achieve and maintain penile erection cannot replace comprehensive sexuality education and conversations about sexual rights.