I started by interviewing Ashton Applewhite, authorΒ ofΒ This Chair Rocks:Β A Manifesto Against AgeismΒ about some of the more pernicious myths and misconceptions about ourΒ sexualityΒ as we mature.
Background:Β Ashton is an old friend up to new tricks. When I met her 20 years ago, we were both in our 40s, engaging in careers that would take twists and turns we could not have anticipated. I expanded fromΒ psychotherapyΒ and sex therapy to studying neuroscience and publishing several studies on the neural correlates ofΒ orgasmΒ and the power ofΒ imageryΒ to activate the brain’s pleasure centers. (The brain, after all, is the most important sexual organ.)
Ashton, previously a writer about topics such asΒ Cutting Loose:Β Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well,Β became an expert in ageism. Ashton’s expertise is undeniable: She has been recognized by The New York Times, NPR, and the American Society on Aging as such.
