Suzanne Portnoy On … Middle-Aged Sex
Looser Women is a documentary comedy piece about modern women and what they really think about dating, sex and relationships, packed full of verbatim material and performed by Karen Dunbar, Rachel Parris and Wendy Wason. Written by Sex Addict Tim Fountain and best selling erotic memoir author, Suzanne Portnoy, the show features real life stories which the two have been hunting for in the run-up to the Fringe.
Thanks in large part to the web I, like so many other middle-aged people, now have more choice, more freedom to experiment and more opportunities to play than at any other time in life. Whether single or divorced – and whether happy or unhappy about that status – people like myself, freed from the constraints of marriage, are able to pursue whatever lifestyle they chose on their own terms. More than any club or organization will ever do, the internet has brought together vast numbers of people with shared likes and dislikes, and many members of my generation are openly experimenting with the medium to learn not just how to satisfy themselves, but to learn about themselves, as well.
I was one of those early pioneers, determined to use the Internet to fulfil my every fantasy. I let my libido lead the way and by the age of 47, I calculated, I’d spent more hours having group sex than all my one-on-one experiences combined. I chronicled my experiences in two books and a blog and developed a following of like-minded, independent women as well as admiring (as opposed to lecherous) men.
It was when I turned 49 that my feelings towards sex began to align with more monogamous types. As my periods became more sporadic, my desire diminished. I suppose I should have anticipated this happening, yet I was surprised at how quickly I went from being the girl on the go, always up for it, to the girl who preferred staying home with a book.
In May 2010, after five years of meticulously recounting my sexual escapes online, I closed down my blog. As one who had made a name for herself as a sexual adventuress, I didn’t feel much like adventures anymore or have much to say anymore to the people who had become fans of my horny stories. Instead of thinking about sex, I started thinking more about business. This amused my friends, who declared my new silence on the topic of sex the last thing they’d have expected of the person they believed had more of it, and knew more about it, than anyone else. Their jokes inspired me to put my insights and expertise into writing, and to create, with fellow sexpert Tim Fountain, a show based on my sexual experiences and those of other women. I’ve gone from being a sex adventurer to a sex investigator, finding out how other women feel about sex, dating, and relationships. I smile as I walk to the office most days at the thought that work, something I have always loved, has taken priority over sex, something I once thought I could not live without.
Looser Women is being performed at the Gilded Balloon Teviot from 3-29 August (excl 17) at 22.45.
