Female Viagra? Patriarchy is alive and well.
Let’s get one thing straight, this new drug has nothing to do with viagra. Viagra is a drug with a physical effect. It increases blood-flow and that leads to an erection. Flibanserin was actually developed as an anti-depressant, and that’s how it works.
Women will allegedly be more receptive to intercourse by taking this norepinephrine–dopamine disinhibitor. That’s really not the same thing as an increase in libido- at all. The effectiveness rate is only between 8 and 13%. But these days marketing is everything, especially in America.
People should be aware that a number of Women’s Health organizations have already put out statements calling the marketing campaign highly misleading.
To me this looks like nothing but a psychological pressure tool in the form of a pill that men can use against their partners to force them to be willing to have sex on demand. Because obviously, not wanting to have intercourse means she’s depressed- or there must be something else wrong with her.
My Mazamet 
I heard about this on the radio and was completely horrified. If women want to take it for themselves that’s perfectly ok.
It did mention though, that it can’t be taken with alcohol, and all I could think was that there are idiots who would think a drug that made women more receptive to sex would be so easy to slip into a drink at a bar. 😦
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Also, an anti depressant being used to make women want to have sex? It’s almost like a miracle drug! It seems just as if making a woman feel good will make her more likely to want to have sex with you or something… Oh, wait…. 😉
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LOL. I’m still having a hard time believing it was approved for the purpose it was approved for.
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That IS scary, the fact that it CANNOT be taken with alcohol and the contingency of fuckboys on this earth who think all they have to do to get laid is put it in a woman’s drink.
I mean, it’s one thing for a woman to take this herself, of her own accord, to KNOWINGLY ingest this drug. But it’s quite another thing, and a dangerous one at that, for someone to put this into a woman’s drink & for her to ingest it without knowing.
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A lot of these drugs can’t be taken with alcohol because the liver can’t then function properly and get rid of the drug fast enough. What happens is that the drug then can build up to possibly dangerous levels with adverse side affects. Antidepressants taken with alcohol can lead to seretonin syndrome. This would not work like a roofie or make women more likely to agree to sex.
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Apparently this ‘can’t be taken with alcohol because of a potentially serious interaction that can cause fainting and severely low blood pressure’. The article I read didn’t specify the time frame for that reaction.
I think most people would instinctively know that slipping this in a drink won’t have immediate effects, but the kind of moron who would roofie someone probably wouldn’t have any scruples against using it in the same way if they had the chance. Or enough intelligence. After all, if they did they wouldn’t need anything other than their sparkling personality to win over a woman in the first place!
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Oh jeez. Yeah, those are some bad side affects! I agree wholeheartedly that this kind of person who would do this to someone is an absolute moron!
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Women are indoctrinated to think if they don’t look like a Victoria’s Secret model and they don’t desire steamy, hot sex at the drop of a hat there’s something wrong with them. Instead of telling them how it really is it is so.much.easier to tell them to pop a pill to fix themselves. That rarely works for anything ever. People of both sexes have waxing and waning libidos. Pharmaceutical companies have been, for a long time, in the business of labeling the human condition a disease or disorder and trying to make and sell a pill to cure it.
I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but there’s a documentary entitled Orgasm, Inc. that is really good. It’s all about monetizing orgasms by the pharmaceutical industry.
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I haven’t seen it, but I’ve read articles by the maker of that documentary. She’s brilliant. In fact, she’s one of the people writing this week for The Daily Beast about how rubbish this drug is.
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Disguising an anti-depressant as a libido enhancer is just outrageous on every possible level.
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That’s all well and good but maybe the problem lies in the marketing and not the drug itself. I find myself more and more locked in a battle between my mind and body. My brain says it wants sex but body doesn’t want to respond. Whether this is a mental health issue or a physical issue, finding a drug that can help is a relief to my anxiety over it. I took cialis for the first time the other day and even now 4 days later I still have a super heightened sense of arousel at the slightest provocation. My point is that something that increases a persons libido should not be automatically scorned.
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Absolutely! The problem is the drug doesn’t increase libido. This drug only acts as an anti-depressant.
There are treatments women can get from their doctors, usually with testosterone, and as far as I know they’re the only ones that are proven to increase libido.
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Oh ok I guess that’s different then. I’ve just always found that the more my partner enjoys the sex, the more I do. I’m assuming it would be the same in a heterosexual relationship.
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It’s not a heterosexual relationship thing, it’s a woman thing.
The way desire works in men and women is very different. Even if you could medically switch on a woman’s gentials she’s not going to want to have sex unless her brain is interested, and if her brain isn’t interested there is probably a reason for that, popping a pill won’t necessarily fix it.
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An anti-depressant being used to make women more inclined to have sex? What, is “I’m depressed” the only plausible reason for myself or any other female to NOT want sex at any particular time in life?
The truth is I was very curious when I first heard about this new drug…I take antidepressants (Prozac) for…well, for what is NOT really the point of this post, but there have been times when I’ve experienced some vaginal dryness (i.e., I have trouble getting wet) during intercourse BECAUSE I take an antidepressant. It’s not that I lack the desire for sex, it’s just that since I’m taking Prozac, I don’t get wet, or as wet as I’d like to get, during sex and other amorous activities. So yeah, I’d be interested in something that could, ummmmm, fix that problem. I mean, yes, there are lubricants, creams, and joy gels galore on the market, but it kind of ruins the moment, having to say “No, I’m interested in what you’re doing, just let me slather my pussy with lubricant so it FEELS like I’m interested”.
So the fact that this “female Viagra” as they call it is a bust is rather unfortunate for me.
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There was an interesting piece on BBC news last night about this, and how the pharmaceutical company has helped fund an advertising campaign – yes, advertising – to garner public pressure to licence this drug for public use, despite its relative inefficacy and the wide range of side effects.
Cue pictures of a swim-suit clad woman saying “my (male) partner has a drug to tackle his sexual dysfunction, but what do we have? Nothing!”
This is a very unwelcome trend – advertising and public pressure trumping science, and hijacking “equality” arguments to sell drugs to people. (And, yes, I do understand that there is such a thing as female sexual dysfunction: it’s just that I think treatment options should be based on science, individual need and public safety.)
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That’s the thing. 8 to 13% success is ridiculous. Viagra has near to a 90% success rate. Any comparison between the two is TOTALLY misleading.
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As far as I know, anti-depressants are not ‘happy’ pills that you can pop when the need arises so are women supposed to take these all the time so they’re ready for the Saturday night special, if and when it happens?
To me this borders on medical and criminal negligence.
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That’s THE THING! They’re supposed to take it everyday, just like any other anti-depressant. And it’s probably going to make no difference at all to them. Except of course, feeling guilty for not feeling more into sex.
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Ugh, this is simply horrible. Even if I weren’t a woman I’d be outraged. This is not equality of any sort. 😦
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Well, the story gets worse. The manufacturers have agreed a $1billion takeover. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34002219
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It sounds like it works a lot like Wellbutrin which is an antidepressant that has little sexual side affects. Wellbutrin doesn’t increase sex drive it just doesn’t inhibit it like most antidepressants. Female viagra type drugs are very misleading. Most women don’t need these drugs. They just need better relationships and more attentive lovers.
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