We hear a lot about men and their midlife crises; the sudden urge to own an Alfa Spider, the unexpected interest in back-hair removal (the same hair he has lived with quite harmoniously for much of the last four decades), the elopement with the young blonde from the gym after 25 years of an apparently happy and stable marriage.
The explanation given for this erratic behaviour centres on one thing: sex. At 40, a man feels he is losing his sexual attraction – hence the need to be confirmed by a younger woman. But what about the middle-aged woman and her midlife crisis? Just because she doesn’t abandon the established family quite so regularly and dramatically doesn’t necessarily mean she isn’t occasionally consumed by the same urges.
My observations are that women approaching 50 swoon just as easily at the sight of a fit male chest or a sweaty bicep as a middle-aged man might over a girl in a bikini. It’s just that women are better at concealing their lust.
Culture pushes us; WE push us into an out of normal interest in sexual things. In the end, we’ve pushed sex so far from its purpose that it is recreation akin to going to the gym: “Let’s go work out! We’ll feel great after its over!” Our Lord gives us basic and sound reasoning about our bodies. We’ve been fooled by our own misbehavior.