What older Malaysian women have to say about sexuality

The sexuality of older women is an underexplored issue when we adopt the view that sex and reproductive health are universal human rights. In Malaysia, our selected context of study, research on sexuality disproportionately focuses on biomedical perspectives, while conversations on sexuality are circumscribed by taboo. Hence, this study aims to understand the sexual experiences of older Malaysian women through the sexual scripts of older women in Sarawak. Through a phenomenological approach that involved interviews with 11 women, the findings indicated that most participants showed a visible struggle in expressing their sexuality but did communicate about sexuality for self-pleasure and to communicate with their partners. The main factors that influence their communication of sexuality are personality, family upbringing, friends, and sociocultural influences. The study contributes to expanding Sexual Script Theory by highlighting how it operates in a non-Western, multi-ethnic, and religiously diverse context such as Sarawak, while also amplifying the often-overlooked voices of older women.

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