Guess Where I've Been?

Chairing a scientific meeting in San Diego and then off for a lovely--and much-needed--vacation. Bet you can't guess what I've been doing! Really, really needed the rest!

Back next week with Part 2 of our last post. Promise.

With Pleasure,

Dr. J

The Big Lie: Part 1

“One pill makes you larger,
And one pill makes you small.
And the ones that Mother gives you
Don’t do anything at all.”
“White Rabbit” Grace Slick,Jefferson Airplane

The Doctor Is in

Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually take a pill that would not only solve ALL your sexual problems, but answer every one of your personal questions and concerns for good measure? How about a pill that made you want sex all the time? Wouldn’t that one silence your partner? What about a pill that made your orgasms wilder than a carnival ride and came with a money-back guarantee? Fabulous! Why, with a pill like that you’d never even have to show your partner what you like, discuss thorny issues or invest any time and energy in your sexuality at all!

Nirvana or Nightmare?

Yeah right. Well guess what? So you have a question about your sexuality, or a concern about orgasm? Congratulations, you’ve got the latest stylish disease or illness. The drug and insurance companies are selling this “medicalization” of sexual questions/concerns to a public that has always wanted easy answers to complex problems. Plus there’s the profit issue…

This is Not a Rant against Pills

Goddess knows, science has developed many incredible drugs to help save humankind and lessen our pain. Why, if it hadn’t been for birth control pills, yours truly might well have spent the majority of her time…Well you get the picture.

Don’t Buy into this Myth

But the notion that scientists have developed a pill that will somehow magically help solve sexual concerns… that’s not science, it’s science fiction. Sure, Viagra has been a marvelous tool for men with organic factors that inhibit their getting and maintaining an erection (factors like diabetes, etc.); however, now the drug companies seem to have a hard-on about developing that magical “pink Viagra” pill for women: one that will miraculously solve all sexual concerns. Face it, the problem with this model is that women’s sexual concerns don’t generally occur because of physiological issues—they’re the result of a wide variety of causes, most of which are heavily influenced by issues both sociological and cultural.

There seems to be a popular medical model that presumes female sexuality is similar to that familiar old male model of performance, meaning that all women want is to get it wet and get it off, just as all men want is to get it up and get it off. In fact, for most women, nothing could be further from the truth. And, of course, we’ve already discussed how that model disadvantages men—now women are expected to buy into that same old load of drivel too?

What if you could take something like testosterone that would actually make you desire sex? OK, what’s next? The pharmaceutical companies would have us believe this kind of pill is the answer to all our prayers. But that doesn’t change the other issues in your life, does it? How much do you think it might transform:

1. An uncaring or unskilled partner.
2. A relationship that has degenerated into anger and resentment.
3. A feeling that sex is somehow dirty or inappropriate for women.
4. Ignorance about your body and how it responds.

Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid

Are you starting to get the picture? The pharmaceutical industry wants people to think that sexual problems are simple medical matters, and it offers us magic bullet drugs (read: expensive fixes). But we know that sexual problems are complicated, because sexuality is diverse, and drugs, for all the good they may provide, are not without unwanted side effects. And this just in: Men are affected by this issue as well.

It Makes You Think

Much of the research that finds its way into your friendly neighborhood newspaper is biased and supported by grants from the very industry that has a vested interest in making us believe what they want us to believe—but no doubt they’re working on a pill to make us do that too!

In next week’s post, we’ll discuss what sexological researchers have to say about this issue, as well as how it affects women, men and relationships.

With Pleasure,

Dr. J.