Review of Orgasm Inc. (2009) by Alexander Z — 05 Jul 2012

This documentary is a mess. It's all well and good to second-guess the pharmaceutical industry and the FDA and the problem with defining disease in this country, but at no point does this documentary actually explore whether these so-called questionable diseases are actually bunk. It attacks labeling, but it doesn't have any medical analysis to back up its claims. Instead, the filmmaker relies on blanket condemnatory statements, such as how much more money we spend on pills while not living longer than other countries, but that is not an analysis of the situation. That is just a statistic that can be twisted to mean anything. That ignores a whole host of other factors in our health system. Sadly, this is a poor attempt at bringing to light an important issue.

Bottom line: There is a ton of bad research around female arousal. While attaching a name brings a stigma with it, much of these problems women experience can probably be traced to a societal repression of female sexuality, a repression that men do not experience. However, that does not mean that it isn't real for a small percentage of women. Sure, a lot of women may not know where the clitoris is, and some are getting duped by cosmetic vagina surgery, but what about those who legitimately need sex therapy? A pill may not be the answer, but people to provide information and support are never a bad idea. Women need to know about their bodies, they need to be able to communicate to their partners how they like to be aroused, and there needs to be a system in place to deal with helping women feel comfortable with their bodies and sexual response. There is no single way to be sexual, which is where a lot of these issues rise from. Yet, is a pill that increases blood flow or stimulates lubrication a bad thing? The problem with this documentary is that it conflates diagnoses with pills. The disease may be overstated, but the pill may still work. Again, had she actually explored methodologies, it would have been a far more compelling argument.

And don't you tell me you wouldn't be first in line if they developed an Orgasmatron that didn't need to have electrodes injected into your spine.