Film Analysis: Orgasm Inc.

Orgasm Inc Orgasm Inc is a documentary film directed by Liz Canner about the search to develop a drug that will be like the female version of Viagra in order to treat a disease called female sexual dysfunction. Originally, Liz Canner was hired by a pharmaceutical company called Vivus to edit erotic movies. However, while working on the erotic films, she decided to create a documentary about how the pharmaceutical companies are trying to take advantage of female sexual dysfunction in the interest of billions of dollars. The documentary explores to see if there is a solid foundation to what the pharmaceutical industry says constitutes as a healthy female libido and whether drugs are a safe and smart alternative. It’s an inside look at the

Female sexual dysfunction or FSD is a persistent problem with sexual response, specifically in trying to obtain or maintain sexual arousal. This will lead to distress that will affect everyday life, including the possibility of straining your relationship with your partner. Many women will experience sexual dysfunction at some point in their lives, usually in the later stages of life. It can occur at any time or can occur in just certain sexual situations. Sexual dysfunction can occur due to a multitude of reasons like a complex interplay of emotions, experiences, and beliefs. Women are generally influenced by everyday life experiences such as aging, sense of body image, health in our relationships, stress, and past sexual encounters, including a history of sexual abuse. Any of these disruptions or thoughts can affect sexual desire, arousal or satisfaction and treatment will not usually occur without a slew of solutions. In order to accurately diagnose and treat sexual dysfunction it

A major benefit is that this could lead to much more research being done in the field of female sexual disorder, and not just by pharmaceutical corporations whose only interest is to make money off a product. The documentary mentions that many women do suffer from this disorder and medicalizing it could be to their benefit and helpful. However, there still are social, relational, and psychological factors that affect FSD. In medicalizing this disorder it is important to look as this disorder in a macro viewpoint and not just look for a single pill or patch that will solve all the problems. My concern is that the large conglomerates will continue to release harmful pills or other devices to women and say that it will help with FSD. This will cause women who self- prescribe themselves as having this disorder to seek the solution, even with the possibility of the results being harmful. Many of these drugs that are currently under development can have horrific effects including breast cancer and cardiovascular problems. For example, the documentary mentions a testosterone patch by Proctor and Gamble designed to treat FSD called Intrinsa. They tried to release the patch for off label use, however it was was denied because there were harmful side effects, including women having to take a high dosage of estrogen pills in order to offset the