Retiree, grandmother, widow, little old lady...these are the images of older women that permeate our culture. But what about girlfriend, lover, mate? As the average life span of women pushes 80 what happens to older women as sexual beings with needs and desires, whether they are in relationships or not? The media has recently begun hailing "older sexuality," but the fact that this coverage almost always refers to women in their 40's and 50's is only evidence that the idea of women in their 60's or older being sexual is still seen as taboo.

THE FILM (IN A NUTSHELL)
The documentary begins by pushing against the widespread assumption (that even some older women have bought into) that older women are not sexual, challenging the limited and prudish ways older women are most often seen. Far from viewing menopause as the end of their sex life, for many women liberation from birth control and in many cases no longer having children at home set them free sexually.

STILL DOING IT reveals that many older women are actually beginning intense romantic relationships after 65. Frances, 87, continues to enjoy a palpably sexual relationship with journalist David Steinberg, the love of her life she met at 80, despite breaking her hip and needing to move to a nursing home two years ago. Aware that many people see her as "nothing, but an old woman in a wheel chair," she is defiant in living her life on her own terms. "When I'm having sex nobody matters. I'm in my own world, David is in his own world and we don't give a damn."

74-year-old sex expert Betty Dodson, met her 26-year-old boyfriend Eric in cyberspace more than four years ago and has been living with him ever since. Eric acknowledges that Betty doesn't have the body of a 20-year-old, but rather than lose the experience of having a relationship with this amazing woman because she will undoubtedly die before him he has decided to go for it. Betty's life (and her humor) stand not only in defiance of the sexual compliance expected of women, but as a reminder that what is really happening is often far more interesting than the limited scenarios the media creates.

For Ellen, 68 and Dolores, 70, who met three years ago, finding the love of their lives so late in life has not only been exhilarating, but has provided a reflection of their own older beauty and sexuality. For Ellen, who was married and became a model 1950's suburban housewife, sexuality is central. It is why she endured the pain of leaving her good, but sexually unsatisfying marriage. For her the women's movement rescued her from an isolation that began as a child when she realized she was attracted to girls and culminated in her conflict around having strong feelings for women during her marriage. Ellen revels in her relationship, and as an activist fights to ensure that older gays and lesbians are not forced back into the closet in nursing homes and senior centers.

STILL DOING IT not only delves into each woman's
personal history but also into the broader history of these women's lives. Archival footage, stills and music are integrated to take the audience from the 1940s and 1950's to the explosive energy of the women's movement and the sexual revolution. Entering these past decades, and the women's tales of having lived through them, reminds viewers that these times were far more radical than the conservative times we are living in now. The doc thus illustrates the reality that while many older women are still reluctant to speak about their personal lives there is a new vanguard of women over 65 who came into their own later in life and have taken that strong sense of themselves and their sexuality into their older age. Even some traditional women, like Juanita and Elaine, two African American great grandmothers in their 70's (who defy the reluctance of many older African American women to speak about their sexuality) are redefining themselves as they age.

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