Who is in control ?

 

In our society men have power. With few exceptions, men control the media, the financial sector, politics, religion and the ivory tower. Their power is pervasive.  It is not only exercised through corporate means, individual men exercise power in their relationships emotionally, financially, and physically.  Even more disturbing is that the scope of these corporate and individual powers extends to reproductive healthcare. The issues surrounding gender inequality in this realm of medicine are intimately entwined with the power of men.  Take for example medications designed to treat erectile dysfunction.  Medications such as Viagra are advertised on prime time television.  At any given time,  television networks consist of about 2600 channels and generate annual revenue of out 57 billion dollars.  While the actual television show being broadcast only contributes about 60 percent of networks’ revenue, advertising contributes about 45 percent.  With advertising contributing such a large percentage of networks’ revenue, maybe taking a look at what is advertised is important. These ads are targeted at men, usually portrayed as “average Joes” who are being chased by lusty women and present the inability of a man to get or maintain an erection as a disease. According to the Viagra website if a man even experiences occasional disruption to his sexual satisfaction, he should talk to his doctor. A woman’s decreased libido, however, is not recognized as a problem, let alone a disease. Since her pregnancy, my sister has been struggling with the issue of decreased libido. She has even made an effort to discuss her concerns with her doctor. After blood work showed no signs of hormonal imbalance, her doctor said there was not much she could do to help. She was even told—by a female doctor—that if she was having sex once a week she was “doing good” and still had unrealistic pre-motherhood expectations of sexual satisfaction and frequency.  She told her doctor that it may be ‘unrealistic,’ but her husband’s frequency of desire and her lack thereof was causing significant turmoil in their relationship.  She merely wanted to be treated like she had a legitimate medical concern. Her doctor went on to explain that while it may seem archaic, “sometimes you just need to find it in you somewhere because men tend to stray when their needs aren’t being met.” In the case of prescription medications, the research for these drugs has been funded prior to their approval by the FDA. This disparity in treatment is being fueled by the fact that overwhelmingly men are funding and conducting the research. Moreover, the idea that this disease needs to be treated for men by prescribing drugs perpetuates the notion and the cultural expectation that men need to “sow their seed.” Only in this context, not treating women who suffer decreased libido while naming a disease and funding research for men who suffer the same malady, would men assert that this inconsistency make sense.