Orgasm, Inc. Summary

Orgasm, Inc. is a documentary exploring female sexual pleasure and the mentality that has caused pharmaceutical and medical professionals to define a new disorder pertinent to women. This disorder was named “female sexual dysfunction” and began the medicalization of women’s sexual experiences by defining what is considered to be medically “abnormal” for women to feel when exploring pleasure. FSD was a broad term that encompassed lack of desire, lack of pleasure, and painful intercourse (Canner, 2011).
FSD began as a disorder that had little to no organic evidence or medical discoveries to prove its existence, however, the FDA approved clinical trials for treatment anyway
(Canner, 2011). The FDA approval catalyzed a number of drug companies
What seemed to be a medical professional pursuing the treatment for a disease was, in reality, perfectly normal women increasing the profits of money-hungry drug companies. Classifying FSD as a dysfunction among healthy women changed the definition of women’s bodies, health, desire, and orgasm, ultimately at a cost to women. Female sexuality is complex, fluid, and variable amongst all women and cultures.
Pharmaceutical companies defined what they thought was the “norm” and all those who deviated from it to be dysfunctional. The implications on women’s health, physically and mentally, were more negative than positive. Healthy women believed they had a disorder, which can have a huge impact on mental health. Perfectly healthy individuals, who elected to be a part of clinical trials, subjected themselves to hefty health risks, including paralysis and cerebral fluid leak, with no proven benefit (Canner, 2011). Medical professionals blindly linked improving blood flow and lubrication to increase chance of orgasm, still with little to no biological evidence (Canner, 2011). As much as it was
As we saw in the documentary, sex education in America is flawed and almost non-existent (Canner, 2011). Our educators are preaching abstinence rather than actual sexual health because of our cultural fear of sexuality, and this could play a huge role in women’s negative sexual experiences. The clitoris is the region of the genital area with the most nerve endings, and is often not stimulated during intercourse due to its vulvar location (Canner, 2011). If our sex education was more comprehensive and included information on women’s pleasure, this would probably be a more effective and less risky route when addressing female pleasure, or lack thereof. There are a multitude of social constructions that play a role in the defining of FSD, and the lack of sex education, oppression of women’s sexuality, and the prevailing efforts of drug companies are just a few (Canner, 2011). Instead of medicalizing female sexuality, it may be time to address lack of sexual education as the major dysfunction in our country causing what seems to be a sexual dysfunction in