The ethics of sex and Alzheimer's / John Portmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Portmann, John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sexual ethics.

Alzheimer's disease--Patients--Sexual behavior.

Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease--Patients--Family relationships.

Older people--Sexual behavior.

Older people.

Married people--Sexual behavior.

Married people.

Adultery.

Celibacy.

Alzheimer's disease--Patients.

Physical Description:

xvii, 196 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, 2014.

Summary:

A growing epidemic, Alzheimer's punishes not only its victims but also those married to them. This book analyzes how Alzheimer's is quietly transforming the way we think about love today. Without meaning to become rebels, many people who find themselves "married to Alzheimer's" deflate the predominant notion of a conventional marriage. By falling in love again before their ill spouse dies, those married to Alzheimer's come into conflict with central values of Western civilization - personal, sexual, familial, religious, and political. Those who wait sadly for a spouse's death must sometimes wonder if the show of fidelity is necessary and whom it helps. Most books on Alzheimer's focus on those who have it, as opposed to those who care for someone with it. This book offers a powerful and searching meditation on the extent to which someone married to Alzheimer's should be expected to suffer loneliness. The diagnosis of dementia should not amount to a prohibition of sexual activity for both spouses. Portmann encourages readers to risk honesty in assessing the moral dilemma, using high-profile cases such as Nancy Reagan and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to illustrate the enormity of the problem. Ideal for classes considering the ethics of aging and sexuality. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: married to Alzheimer's

Sexual entitlement: marriage is for sex and sex is for marriage

Selflessness: opting to live without sex while still married

Sex with strangers

Senior sex and disgust

Desertion

The sexually deprived in American prisons

Film and fiction as moral cues

Sexual generosity

Conclusion: love after Alzheimer's.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415641647

0415641640

9780415641654

0415641659

9780203075807

0203075803

OCLC:

794041360