Recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved Addyi, a prescription drug intended to increase women’s sexual drive, with news articles marketing it as a ‘female Viagra’ and the ‘pink pill.’
I consider myself to be asexual, which, per the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, means I am “a person who does not experience sexual attraction.”[i] While I’m now comfortable with this identity, I used to question my lack of desire. I never consulted a physician about my disinterest, figuring that I just hadn’t been with the right partners.
Addyi is being marketed as curing hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD, which is “defined as a deficiency or absence of sexual fantasies and desire, which causes distress or interpersonal difficulty” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[ii] Addyi had been approved “for women whose loss of sexual desire causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulty and is not the result of illness, relationship problems or side effects of other medicines.”[iii]
Strangely, despite all my research on asexuality, I’d never run into this before. The definitions of HSDD and asexuality suggest that rhetoric and semantics might be the only difference. Indeed, the distinguishing factor seems to be the ‘personal distress.’ The definition of HSDD relies on the “assumption that some level of sexual desire is normal.”[iv]
I am asexual, but heteroromantic. As such, I form relationships despite my lack of sexual desire. To date, my lack of interest in sex has caused major issues within two forming relationships. This has most definitely caused me distress, immensely so. Does this mean I am suffering from HSDD? The line is hard to draw.
My issue with Addyi is with its treating a lack of interest in sex as a problem that needs a cure, and in how it might be marketed. Opponents of Addyi are mainly concerned with side effects and risks, concerns that a prescribing physician might address with a patient. A physician might not, however, discuss whether one’s lack of sexual desire is a problem or not, and whether one would be happier with a higher amount of desire.
Sexual dysfunctions in women can be “persistent, recurrent problems with sexual response, desire or orgasm.”[v] Men who typically take Viagra are men with erectile dysfunction –men who experience so-called normal desire but are unable to fulfil this desire due to a physical problem. Viagra targets this, as it “affects blood flow to the genitals.”[vi] However, Addyi is meant to “activate sexual impulses in the brain.”[vii] It tries to fix desire, but ignores other problems women may have with response and orgasm.
Women may have similar issues to erectile dysfunction such as sexual arousal disorder, “the inability to respond normally during sexual arousal, particularly a woman’s inability to generate sufficient lubrication for sex”[viii] or female orgasmic disorder, the “inability to achieve climax during sexual stimulation.”[ix] These are not the problems Addyi is intended to solve. These are the problems sexual health equity advocates need to focus on.
I completely support any decision one might make in regards to their sexuality; however, I implore females ‘suffering’ from HSDD to look into asexuality. Society today is filled with images of sex, and sexual desire is commonly perceived to be natural and encouraged. When I didn’t enjoy sex, not knowing asexuality was a possible orientation, I thought something must have been wrong with me. It is perfectly normal not to experience sexual desire. My biggest concern with Addyi is that it will be pushed on people who have no desire to feel desire or who think something is wrong with them.
[i] The Asexuality Visibility and Education Network. Web. http://www.asexuality.org/home/
[ii] Scutti, Susan. “Asexuality Is Real: How A Rare Orientation Helps Us Understand Human Sexuality.” Medical Daily. 7 May, 2015. Web. http://www.medicaldaily.com/asexuality-real-how-rare-orientation-helps-us-understand-human-sexuality-332346
[iii] Pollack, Andrew. “F.D.A. Approves Addyi, a Libido Pill for Women.” The New York Times, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/business/fda-approval-addyi-female-viagra.html
[iv] Scutti, Susan. “Asexuality Is Real: How A Rare Orientation Helps Us Understand Human Sexuality.” Medical Daily. 7 May, 2015. Web. http://www.medicaldaily.com/asexuality-real-how-rare-orientation-helps-us-understand-human-sexuality-332346
[v] “Female Sexual Dysfunction.” Mayo Clinic. 19 Aug, 2015. Web. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/female-sexual-dysfunction/basics/definition/con-20027721
[vi] Ramsey, Lydia. “That was quick: The maker of the first approved women’s libido drug was just acquired for $1 billion.” Business Insider. 20 Aug, 2015. Web. http://www.businessinsider.com/valeant-acquires-sprout-pharma-for-1-billion-2015-8
[vii] Ramsey, Lydia. “That was quick: The maker of the first approved women’s libido drug was just acquired for $1 billion.” Business Insider. 20 Aug, 2015. Web. http://www.businessinsider.com/valeant-acquires-sprout-pharma-for-1-billion-2015-8
[viii] “Sexual Arousal Disorder.” Psychology Today. 24 Nov, 2015. Web. https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/sexual-arousal-disorder
[ix] “Orgasmic Disorder.” Psychology Today. 17 Feb, 2015. Web. https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/orgasmic-disorder