Lately I've been getting into something of a stew about sex. It was triggered by the news that Manchester City Council was launching an Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask Guide aimed at the over-50s.
A complete waste of money, harrumphed the majority of commentators. A patronising insult, chorused the columnists.
If you haven't got the hang of it by the time you're 50, you're not about to turn into a sexual tiger or a tigress now, seemed to be the general consensus.
Taboo: Manchester City Council's Guide To Good Sexual Health for the Over 50s was met with disgust and derision
But for me it was the response rather than the initiative itself that got me raging.
Because while I agree that it's not the job of your local council to hand out sex tips at taxpayers' expense, the vehemence of the reaction against this little booklet exposed something rather more important.
And it's this. Sex over 50 is still taboo. The mere thought of older people having sex, let alone enjoying it, provokes tremors of disgust, ripples of embarrassment and hoots of derision.
When I think of words to describe the experience of sex, I am amazed to find so many that apply.
How about loving, tender, exciting, sensual, passionate, earth-moving, life-enhancing?
How also about angry, aggressive, depressing, manipulative, perfunctory, a chore, a bore?
And let's not forget funny, silly, noisy. Sex is nothing if not ridiculous at times.
It can make you feel great or ghastly or somewhere in between. And it can make you feel all of these things even with the same man, depending on your mood and the state of your relationship.
Sex, in other words, is a complicated business and sometimes it gets more, rather than less, complicated as you age.
Linda Kelsey: Surprised by the reaction to the over-50s sex guide
Why shouldn't we talk about it? Why shouldn't we share our experiences and learn from one another?
Why shouldn't sex after 50 be up for discussion?
I've been posing these questions to a number of different women lately, and I've been both surprised and moved by their willingness to open up to me in deeply personal ways.
Genevieve is 61. Three years ago she left her second husband in Canada and came back to live in England.
'The sex in the last 15 years was almost non-existent. And the few times a year we did have sex there was never any foreplay or tenderness, it was simply a matter of getting down to business.
'It was clinical, mechanical and didn't leave me feeling good. I suppose sex was bad because the marriage was bad.
'My husband was hyper-critical. Of my body, of how I dressed, my cooking, my parenting skills.
'He used to say: "Look at the great shape Christie Brinkley's in, and she's had loads of kids." You can imagine how that made me feel.
'Curiously, I never contemplated an affair because despite our difficulties I didn't want to betray him. More than missing sex, I missed being wanted. In the end I had to leave.'
Back in England, Genevieve found she was getting attention from men. 'I began to realise I wasn't this unattractive, elderly person I was led to believe. But I was still mourning my marriage and it was almost two years before I had sex again.
'I was just happy in that first year to be alone. Then I met Jonny, who's eight years younger than me. We were just friends at first. We didn't sleep together for six months. And now I'm having the best sex I've ever had.
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