Sexual Deviance in Health and Aging

Sexual Deviance in Health and Aging explores how social and cultural perceptions of sexual deviance can shape and be shaped by health and aging. The authors analyze how people get labeled as sexually deviant because of growing older and other factors, and how this stigma impacts their health care and broader social experiences.

---

Sexual Deviance in Health and Aging: Uncovering Later Life Intimacy explores life course health experiences and unmet care needs of populations perceived as sexually deviant in the United States. These groups include but are not limited to: gay, lesbian, and bisexual people; asexual and demisexual people; trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people; intersex people; nonmonogamous and polyamorous people; kink and fetishism practitioners; sex and adult entertainment workers; individuals labeled as sexual offenders and predators; people living with sexually transmitted infections; people identifying as neuroatypical and/or autistic; and people with chronic conditions and disabilities who lead active sexual lives. Lacey J. Ritter and Alexandra C.H. Nowakowski analyze the social, cultural, and political origins of perceptions of these groups as sexually deviant. In the process, they provide history and context for the health care experiences of people within each of these broad groups. Simultaneously, Sexual Deviance in Health and Aging highlights the complexity and individuality of different people’s journeys through sexuality in health and aging.