Contributed by Ashleigh
A recent Newsweek article reviewed Liz Canner’s startling new documentary, Orgasm Inc., about the growing industry around women’s sexual dysfunction: it opens the door to confusing statistics, magic pills and even “designer vaginas.”
The documentary interviews scientists, experts in erotica and ordinary women to get to the core of what sexual dysfunction in women really is. Based on her research Canner believes the “disease,” which some studies say effects up to 43% of women, is a bogus one created by pharmaceutical companies looking to make money—and that the root of women’s sexual issues are far too varied and complex to be cured by a pill or a cream.
Companies like Pfizer and Vivus have long searched for a product that could reverse women’s lack of sexual desire. While many companies have given up, others are still working on a quick fix: a new German-made drug called flibanserin, which was initially tested as an antidepressant, has proven to moderately heighten sexual interest and reduce inhibitions and will have a hearing with the FDA this summer.
Orgasm Inc. also highlights the troubling rise in cosmetic vaginal procedures such as trimming, tightening and collagen-injection. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has warned against these procedures, stating that there is great variety in the appearance of the vaginal area and most of those differences are normal.
Canner hopes her film will help women be more skeptical about drugs or surgery as a quick fix for their problems. She says, “…I think there is a great danger that many healthy women could end up taking drugs that could harm them to fix a disease they don’t have.”
