The presumed intent of age of consent laws is to prevent statutory rape sexual exploitation of children by adults which is a worthwhile motive. To prevent these laws from being used in problematic ways, all that would be necessary would be to specify that statutory rape does not apply when the sexual act is between two persons of similar age. A third negative aspect of our sex laws concerns the laws against sodomy, which in many states includes anything other than penile vaginal intercourse, even between husband and wife. As previously discussed, the belief that "real" sex consists of getting an erection to put in the vagina places men under considerable pressure to perform and is an especially severe problem for men with physical disabilities or illnesses that interfere with erection. The sodomy laws and the values they reflect are also a problem for the elderly couples now being seen in increasing numbers in sex therapy.

Although the aging changes in sexual response are relatively minor and non-problematic, one change is that as the male ages, it typically takes more direct physical stimulation of the penis for longer periods of time to produce erection. Although this can be a positive change, especially for men who previously had a problem with rapid ejaculation, it is often distressing for elderly couples who have not been comfortable with engaging in lots of foreplay prior to coitus, especially manual or oral stimulation of the male's penis. Prior to entering therapy, these couples typically had a history of many years of adequate functioning, focused exclusively on penile vaginal intercourse, until the man began to have erectile difficulties. In some cases, direct stimulation of the penis had never been part of their sexual repertoire, and in others it had occurred but was of only brief duration before beginning intercourse.

Suggestions by the therapist to restore sexual functioning by engaging in manual and oral stimulation of the penis and continuing this for some time often raise concerns about sodomy. One patient, a 77 year old woman, said, "I've never touched that thing or put it in my mouth in over 50 years of marriage, and I'm certainly not going to commit sodomy now." A similar reaction often occurs when the therapist suggests the man bring the woman to orgasm manually or orally, to reduce the pressure on him to get an erection. Of course, the therapist tries to deal with these negative attitudes by citing the incidence of manual and oral sex, discussing its normality, self disclosure, and so forth. Yet the fact remains that in many states the therapist is advocating that the patient commit a felony, and the patient may well be aware of this. Adoption of the American Bar Association's model legal code, which decriminalizes all sexual activity performed in private between consenting adults, might help prevent this type of sexual problem.

About The Author
David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Pills Penis Enlargement List company known as Penis Enlargement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing penis enlargement products in order to determine which penis enlargement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2011 David Crawford of Natural Penis Enlargement Myths This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.