Is treating low sexual desire in women the same as treating erectile dysfunction in men?
Addyi, or the 'pink Viagra' as it's been called by some, is a drug aimed to 'increase sexual desire in women' (pre-menopausal women to be precise). It was very recently approved by the FDA (the United States' Food and Drug Administration) and will be available in the US starting October.
Doubts about its effectiveness and side-effects aside (you can read more about the specifics in this New York Times article) the Addyi issue raises eyebrows for more than one reasons:
1. As the Times article mentions, there is no consensus among scientists and medical doctors about what constitutes 'normal sexual desire' among women
2. The assumption is that lack of sexual desire among women (where there are no relationship or other psychological issues) is a condition
The question is - what standards are we holding women's 'normal sexual desire' to?
Is it not possible that sexual desire in women can vary greatly, from non-existent to constant, without it being a problem to be treated? Are women being held up to the same standard as men, when it comes to measuring how frequently or with what degree of willingness they have sex? Or perhaps we should be wondering whether women are expected to 'rise to the occasion' as frequently or as intensely as men desire them to? Or that certain media encourage them to?
The parallel of Addyi to Viagra is what really makes these questions more than rhetorical. Where Viagra aims to treat a physical incapacity, Addyi seems to be targeting a deeper, more subjective issue that cannot be 'assessed' without passing some sort of judgment on a person's psychological/emotional state or choices; trying to 'correct' something in a woman's behavior that IS NOT NECESSARILY (or at least NOT VERY CONVINCINGLY) a 'condition'.
Of course, I am not claiming that lack of sexual desire is not a very REAL problem that affects women's lives in a very real way; nor do I think that women who feel that their lives and personal fulfillment is taking a toll due to a lack of sexual desire should sit around doing nothing - by all means, take Addyi if your doctor says you are eligible for it! But isn't it worth highlighting the pharmaceutical industry's insistence to sell sexual desire to women in a pill that affects brain chemicals, that must be taken daily with moderate results at best (up to one extra satisfying sexual event per month) when it could be possible that this one extra 'satisfying event', or a loss of sexual appetite, might be measured against standards that seem to respond to preconceptions of what a woman 'should' feel, preconceptions which don't necessarily represent or reflect a 'normal' state but are trying instead to create and impose such a state or standard?