“The Heart Desires but the Body Refuses”: Sexual Scripts, Older Men’s Perceptions of Sexuality, and Implications for Their Mental and Sexual Health

Abstract

We use sexual scripting theory in the present paper to gain a better understanding of older men’s perceptions of their sexuality in relation to dominant Tanzanian cultural norms of masculinity. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 older men, and ten focus group discussions were conducted with 60 men aged 60–82. Participants’ recruitment was guided by theoretical sampling strategies. Consistent with the principles of grounded theory, data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously. Our findings indicate that Jando (male initiation rites) serves as a script for male sexuality that outlines the expectations and rewards of male sexuality. Adhering to masculine sexual script affects older men’s perceptions of their sexuality in later life and has detrimental effects on their well-being. Older men were concerned with changes in their sexual life, such as the decline in their sexual performance. The majority of the participants said they felt emotionally distressed about the age-related decline in their body and in their sexuality, and they reported that their inability to conform to male sexual scripts undermined their sense of masculinity. Several of the participants reported that in an effort to regain their previous sexual performance, they had turned to remedies and strategies of questionable appropriateness and effectiveness. Our study suggests that older men may benefit from age-related interventions tailored to their cultural background. These interventions may require trained health care providers on mental health issues to bridge the gap between the internalized scripts of ideal male sexuality and the reality of aging.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11199-017-0822-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Men’s Narratives of Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in Urban Mwanza, Northwestern Tanzania

“…For instance, based on the existing sexual scripts, behaviors that could be understood as constituting psychological violence, such as a partner’s infidelity, and behaviors that are not considered to constitute violence, such as a woman’s being hard to be satisfied sexually, and desiring certain sexual positions, were cited as a form of sexual violence. This could be influenced by the masculine sexual script that being able to satisfy a woman sexually is the most honored way of being a man and thus confirming a man’s masculinity (Aloyce et al, 2022; Rutagumirwa & Bailey, 2018). These findings point to a need for development programs to critically reflect on the ideas shared by the local people regarding sexual relationships and sexual intimate partner violence and ensure that they include into the frameworks only those behaviors that really constitute violence.…”

“…Thus, sexual scripts are the socially sanctioned norms and values regarding sexuality that individuals learn through the process of socialization and eventually come to embody (Rutagumirwa & Bailey, 2018; Simon & Gagnon, 1986). Fundamental to sexual script theory is the notion that sexual scripts are embedded and produced in specific cultural contexts, thus guide how people interpret, evaluate, and respond to different sexual situations and behaviors(Rose & Frieze, 1993; Rutagumirwa & Bailey, 2018; Simon & Gagnon, 1986; Stephens & Eaton, 2014). In other words, people draw upon these scripts when judging their sexual experiences and those of others, and when engaging in sexual behaviors (Stephens & Eaton, 2014).…”

Reflections About What I Learned as an Editor Making Judgments about Gender and Gendered Contexts with a Feminist Perspective

“…Gendered contexts can also serve as moderators to heightened or attenuate gender differences. For example, although a double standard of sexual advice encourages casual heterosexual hook-ups more readily for men than for women, Rudman et al (2017) documented that this difference in expectations for women and men was found among U.S. adults in the context of high, but not low, safety risk. Caldwell and Wojtach (2020) had U.S. undergraduates create captions for cartoons as well as rate their own humor self-efficacy.…”