Female Viagra hits a new low in the bedroom
I was going to devote another post to “Low T’ and male “menopause” today. Check back on Monday for that because the early news out of the Food and Drug Administration, whose Reproductive Health Advisory Committee is set to meet today to decide on a final verdict, is that flibanserin falls short of its promise to improve women’s sexual desire. Citing issues with the manufacturer’s data, the FDA says that studies do not show significant improvement in a woman’s sexual desire and also fails to note the significant side effects associated with flibanserin, including depression, dizziness and nausea. The ultimate decision could possibly deal a huge blow for profits that could exceed $2 billion dollars.
Importantly, it appears that hype about flibanersin (and more specifically, low sexual desire) has reached a new low. Not only have the company’s marketing efforts pushing the “fact” that one in 10 women suffer from low sexual desire (this figures varies in the medical literature), but the company even funded a Discovery Channel documentary to promote greater awareness of the disorder, a documentary that featured company-paid experts and was reviewed by the company before it aired.
As I’ve written time and again, low sexual desire is a serious and troublesome problem in women that can significantly affect quality of life, self-esteem and relationships. Some experts dispute that female sexual disorder even exists (although clinical experience in postmenopausal women speaks otherwise). However, whether or not you believe in low sexual desire, one thing remains true: when it comes to sex, women operate on a different plane than their male peers. Studies have shown that sexual desire in women is highly reliant on context, experience and personal attitudes. Therefore, you can’t simply fix the symptom without exploring underlying contributing factors.
Do we need another pill in the bedroom? Do we need a female viagra? I hope that the FDA Reproductive Health Committee tells Boehringer “no.”
Read MoreDesigner muffs: cosmetic surgery below the belt – Guest Post by Jesse Mendes
A few months ago, I stirred the pot a bit by writing about genital cosmetic colorants and vaginal rejuvenation. The post was mostly well-received, although I did manage to anger one reader who accused me of ridiculing women who actually needed labiaplasty due to vaginal prolapse or stress incontinence issues. Then I met a writing colleague via Twitter who had similarly written labia amputation, clitoral hood removal and distortion of sexual aesthetics.
I am happy to continue the dialogue with this terrific post – Designer Vaginas. Please show writer and journalist Jesse Mendes some love (and a huge thanks for allowing me to repost this piece).
The push toward cosmetic surgery to “mask” the effects of aging is not news, and as the likes of Heidi Montag will attest, its practice is growing at an alarming rate with young women as well. What is talked about a lot less, though, is cosmetic surgery below the belt or, put another way and a lot more specifically, “designer vaginas” – a moniker granted it in a 2005 Globe and Mail article.
Both men and women today have wildly distorted impressions of so-called “normal” genitalia. Research repeatedly shows that women in particular are widely unfamiliar with real genital diversity, so they tend to rely on marketing and images provided by doctors and other professionals with ridiculously narrow aesthetic and sexual ideals. The reality is that the size, shape and form of a woman’s genitalia vary greatly, and change over time – we are as diverse “down there” as we are in our faces or our fingerprints.
That’s what I learned from the New View Campaign when I interviewed them several years ago. A grassroots organization formed in New York about 10 years ago, its purpose is, among other things, to challenge distorted messages about sexuality, and to expose aggressive marketing tactics that normalize women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies.
We’re talking women as young as 15 years old, going in for procedures such as drastic labia amputation or clitoral unhooding, with poor research on the consequences.
My question is this – how did we get here? How did we get to the point where we are so fucked up about our bodies, women of all ages are lopping off bits and pieces of their private parts in order to feel desirable?
The pressure to conform to a commonly agreed upon norm can be a highly oppressive force. We see and allow for diversity in nature much more easily than we do in our bodies, or for that matter, our sexual experiences. We’re always thinking about whether we measure up. Biologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey dedicated most of his life to educating people in this realm in the 1940s and 50s, yet we’re still dealing with a lot of the same (recycled) attitudes today.
Why are we so afraid of being different? As we age, and develop a more intimate relationship with our own bodies and our selves, this question might be more relevant than we think.
About Jesse…
Jesse Mendes is a freelance writer based in Toronto who is deeply committed to helping to change how older women are perceived in North America, and to dispeling the stigma around aging. Her blog, SeptemberMay, is dedicated to that. She came up with the concept of a dating site that celebrates the inherent eroticism, beauty and intelligence of the older woman. SeptemberMay will be launching later this year.
Read MoreGimme an “O” – all in the name of research
Seriously, I couldn’t make this up. It seems that scientists are studying the mechanisms in the brain that are activated when a woman is aroused during orgasm…in an MRI machine. Somehow, masterbating in a confined space with an endless drone in my head, while researchers look at my brain doesn’t sound very appealing. Nor does giving them a hands up after I’ve come. The goal? By understanding what happens to cause arousal, it might be possible to teach women who have difficulty climaxing to overcome their challenges.
Now mind you, scientists have been studying orgasm through MRI for over a decade. And while I am all for research, especially for women who suffer from sexual dysfunction, well, some things are sacred.
Gimme an “O” sure. But in the privacy of my own domain with either a great vibrator or an amazing partner. Not in an MRI tube with a bunch of researchers literally waiting for the next wave.
How can anyone get turned on with this in their ear?
Read MoreThe female Viagra rears its head…yet again
Got sexual dysfunction? Big pharma continues to search for that magical fountain to restore your libido, desire and ‘vavoom’ in the bedroom. This time, the airways are abuzz with data from a study of rabbits. Yes, rabbits. Seems sort of appropriate that a bunny might be the one to get women back into the bedroom, doesn’t it?
Last November, I told you about the antidepressant flibensarin, which research shows may have the ability to positively affect brain receptors and neurotransmittors that play a role in sexual response. In other words, flibensarin may help boost sexual desire in women who have lost an interest in sex. Now, mind you, hypoactive sexual desire and female sexual arousal disorder, which affects up to 40% of women, are serious, distressing conditions. However, there are data that show that sexual desire cannot be put into a neat box, that the mind, body, soul and environment play key roles in women’s sexual health. Once, again, I refer back to Dr. Christiane Northrup, who I maintain, has provided a healthy, non-pharmaceutical approach to overcoming some of the key variables that play a role in loss of desire. If you haven’t checked out that post, I encourage you to do so.
And yet, the pursuit of the gold ring continues.
In the latest bit of research to reveal the “secret garden” investigators found that by stimulating the pelvic nerve, they were able to promote the release of a neurotransmitter (an endogenous chemical responsible for signals between cells and neurons in the body) called VIP (vasoactive intestinal peptide), a hormone that resides mostly in the gut but also increases blood flow. Under normal circumstances, the action of VIP is broken down by an enzyme called NEP. However, by giving the rabbits an experimental drug, they were able to block NEP, thereby allowing the VIP hormone to do its job better to increase and maintain blood flow to the genital organs.
The key takeaway messages from this highly experimental study were as follows:
1) The drug was able to block an enzyme that plays a role in preventing blood flow to the genital area during arousal, meaning that it revealed a potentially important pathway for the development of drugs that might do the same
2) This action happened without affecting the rest of the body’s cardiovascular system, which indicates it might be safe
Interestingly, in a press release, company representatives distinctly stated that the particular agent used in the rabbit study was not appropriate for further development and that the company had no interest in developing a drug for female sexual arousal disorder.
So, why did the media jump on this story?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sex sells.
The moral – be careful and delve deeper. Sexual desire is tricky. In women, it entails a lot more than stimulation. What’s more, do we really need another pill in the bedroom? Thoughts?
Read MoreWhat’s your flava?
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Are your labia feeling their age? Do they need a bit more pink? There’s an application for that. Literally.
‘My New Pink Button’ , a genital cosmetic colorant, will help restore your labia to their naturally ‘youthful’ pink color! Feeling a bit more daring? There’s a color for that too! Purple, bright red, amber, you name it. Any shade that you’ve ever dreamt of. Any hue that your partner desires. After all, if you’re going to dye your hair, why not dye down there?
While you’re at it, you can also reshape your labia to insure that they are more desirable in appearance. Vaginal rejuvenation, writes journalist Angel Bonvoglia for the Women’s Media Center Blog, is a procedure where cosmetic surgeons (mostly men), “carve, burn, cauterize, and stitch the female labia, clitoral environs, vaginal canal, and other points south… in order to create supposedly longed for “designer” vaginas and thereby “enhance sexual gratification.”” Ironically, Bonovoglia discovers that labiaplasty, the most popular procedure (which entails either leaving just the edge of the inner labia or cutting it off entirely) actually impairs sexual desire. Still, even a top surgeon is quoted as claiming that a tight vagina will keep any man around.
Granted, we live in a visual culture, where middle age is synonymous with invisibility and where older women reach a point where they virtually cease to exist. Women poke, pull, botox, dye, suck, lift and pout in an attempt to hold on to their visibility. Now they have the option to make sure that all is well down below as well, which when taken to extremes, also insures that they rob themselves of the very thing that they are trying to regain: their sexuality.
Why do we need to be worried about or spare our partners from discovering discolored or loose labia? (Really, if he or she is down there, are their eyes open?) Better yet, have our attempts to regain our sexuality insured that we have lost our sanity at the same time?
What do you think? What flava would you like your labia?
Read MoreSex: all it takes is a litle stretch and breath
Have I got your attention? Add a little stretch and breath into your life. And you may find that sexual desire and satisfaction return.
The actual existence of sexual disorders such as FSD (female sexual disorder, also known as HSDD) been disputed, although there is no question that many women experience significant declines in desire , ample lubrication or the ability to achieve orgasm as they enter menopause. And as I’ve written previously,context is also very important.
One missing link in many of these discussions is how mood comes into play. Ask yourself: did you feel sexual the last time you were especially anxious or stressed? Not surprisingly, numerous studies have been written on how stress of any kind can negatively contribute to sexual function. Hence, it’s no wonder that researchers are now saying that yoga may be helpful for improving sexual function and sexual disorders, in women.
Yoga is a wonderful panacea for many aspect of our lives, helping to refocus our minds, building inner and outer strength and evidently, improving sexual function and sexual disorders. In a small study published late last year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, researchers found significant improvements among women who were enrolled in a yoga camp for a 12-week period. Comparisons of responses to a sexual function questionnaire before and after yoga camp showed improvements in desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain; this improvement was more pronounced among women older than age 45 compared to their younger peers.
The improvements in sexual functioning may be linked to yoga’s positive effect on stress and anxiety, especially in association with sex.
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