Taboo subjects, should there be any, especially on an open public forum?

[NovemberMorn]

YABU. Should some subjects be kept away from public discussion, especially with strangers online??

YANBU. Anything goes, as long as it's discussed with respect.

Thread prompted by Dr Miriam Stoppards recent Womans Hour interview, where she said sex, amongst elderly people, was mainly a taboo subject.

I think anything goes. People don't have to contribute or even read a thread if it's not to their taste.
I used to love reading Miriam Stoppards advice columns, glad she is still around talking sense.

There are definitely subjects I'd rather not see threads about, but elderly sex is not one of them. Every time someone posts about sex in later life, half the over 60s' on the board seems to be swinging from the chandeliers and the other half seem to have packed up shop and are quite distinctly over it. Not much more to be said.

I don’t care what people talk about if it’s genuine. When pervs come here looking for wank fodder though…..nope!

Well I think we all know that (some) posters on the internet are incapable of discussing anything “with respect”. The sex lives of older people is not going to cause the same stir as 90% of the other topics on social media, whatever Miriam Stoppard claims.

That's a risk anyone takes when they talk about an intimate topic. Pervs can usually be spotted pretty quickly and ignored, or better still be deleted.

Centerparcs 👀

I'm amazed how many people fall over themselves to tell the OP about their threesome or whatever, I often think it's wank fodder but then it's hard to know as people do have genuine questions. I wouldn't answer those questions, there's lots that seem dodgy to me but others seem to find legitimate.

Agree. So many posters are really naive and/or bad at spotting very obvious pervs.

I think a lot is pure fantasy, even some threads which do seem genuine at first, sometimes gather an air of bullshit as they progress.
However, I also think many people can get a bit too cynical, which is why I would prefer to just leave a thread if it starts to border on the iffy.
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I work with older adults, so that's not a topic that would phase me remotely. I don't really understand why it's taboo. I work with a lot of people with dementia, and have had plenty of conversations about sexual urges and masturbation.

Sex is a normal part of life, and it doesn't stop being a normal part of life for many people just because they've hit a certain age.

We are sexual beings until the day we die.
There may be subjects some people would find taboo to discuss, but sex between older people ain't one of them. Women my own age (ie elderly) are very free in discussing it.

Perhaps young people find old people having sex off putting, too bad.

I remember when we first watched Breaking Bad with DD who was about 16 at the time, the scene where Walt’s wife is wanking him off while shes on eBay, DD said “ugh that’s gross, they’re at least 50!” 😳😆

😁
I think that's when many women reach their second sexual peak, the freedom of kids leaving home contributes to that.

Maybe 'talking about older sex' is taboo when you are young, I bet many kids want to think their parents are celibate.
Little did we know when we were young, that those feelings often don't fade with time. ...we all find out eventually though.

But ‘taboo’ doesn’t mean ‘can’t be talked about’. It means when it is talked about, it makes a lot of people uncomfortable and they react with shock or disgust.

Miriam Stoppard used the word in her interview to describe how people, especially young people, felt about old people and sex.
I think most people would have understood what she meant.

ike her too.

I do wonder whether people find it easier to talk about taboo subjects (ie subjects that are considered embarrassing, uncomfortable and not socially accepted to discuss) in real life or online.

In the past many topics were shied away from....even the menopause was considered to be a subject best kept quiet.

Considering 76 people voted, not many commented.
Maybe taboo subjects are more taboo than first thought.🙀

I think all forums etc need to draw the line somewhere e.g hate speech, holocaust denial, etc.

But other than that I don’t think generally speaking any topic should be taboo.

Depends on the forum and its purpose too though I suppose.

Personally, I don't want to see any photographs of vaginal discharge.

Does anyone?
But an online discussion about any problem could help someone, somewhere.