Class News

Frank Franklin ’64 documents sexual activity of aging males

April 16, 2022

Frank Franklin ’64, who spent his career in public health, documented the sexual activity of aging males during a recent email thread with Yale roommates Ron Parlato ’64 and John Hunsaker ’64.

Ron Parlato, blogger extraordinaire, posted this in his blog, “Uncle Guido’s Facts: God’s Greatest Irony — Unremitting Sexual Longing Well Past A Man’s Pull-By Date.”

John Hunsaker replied: “I thought I would embarrass myself with the following limerick:

There once was a scribe called Parlato
Whose insights dwarf Poncio Pilato
His hermeneutic equivocations
Bedazzled Bloom’s imprecations
While his blogophiles proclaimed much amato

Then, Frank Franklin weighed in with some data: “Excellent! Many of our classmates may be outLIERS — A UK longitudinal study of aging and self-reported sexual activity raises questions. The frequency of sexual behavior was reported on a seven-point scale: ‘not at all’ to ‘more than once a day.’ Those answering two-to-three times a month or more were classified as participating frequently in that particular sexual behavior or activity. The data suggests that among 80-90-year-old men any sexual activity in the past year occurs in 31% of men and frequent sexual intercourse occurs in 19% of men. Among 70-79-year-old men, any sexual activity in the past year occurs in 59% of men and frequent sexual intercourse occurs in 33% of men. Among 80-90-year-old men, 43% of men reported decreasing sexual activity from a year ago. Thus, our next decade likely will be one of less sexual activity. On a positive note, frequent sexual activity was associated with less decline in cognitive function while pain and poor sleep was associated with less sexual activity.”

All of which reminded Tony Lavely of one of the greatest class jokes as told by Chris Getman as he introduced Gail Sheehy (and her book Understanding Men's Passages) at our 35th class reunion. “We've come to age (57),” said Chris, “when we are transitioning from a semi-annual erection to an annual semi-erection.” What’s next?