# Women's Viagra: apparently Viagra has an effect, but women interpret it differently **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534 "2016-03-10T12:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/21 "2016-03-11T16:17:15Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Like, where do we draw the line between normal and a medical issue. Is it when a woman is turned on 10, 9, 8, 7… times a month? To me, that question only matters for insurance purposes. Who pays for how many pills a month? Viagra has a similar issue where insurance will only pay for so many pills. Assuming this pill actually works and there’s no down side or side effects to taking it, if a lady wants medically-boostness horny-ness every day via a pill then it’s her own damned business and we should mind our own. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/22 "2016-03-11T16:29:16Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > But, lo! It got that way sans Viagra. So that’s moot. > > ETA: which plays off of Anaamika’s point above re women and wetness: just because I wake up hard doesn’t mean I’m aroused. But I someitimes awaken with one of those “urinary” erections wanting to “DO SOMETHING” with it. I can’t be the only one. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/23 "2016-03-11T16:32:36Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > If a man is sexually turned on but cannot get an erection, Viagara may make it possible to get the erection. If a man is not sexually turned on, Viagara usually will not cause an erection. Viagara does not cause a man to be sexually turned on. In that sense, it is no surprise that Viagara does not cause a woman to be sexually turned on either. This misses the point that said man can be turned OFF by NOT having the erection. So while the Viagra is not necessarily directly turning him ON, its results can surely help in preventing him from being turned OFF. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/24 "2016-03-11T16:37:05Z")
> [@dizzee\_dee](#): > > And FYI increasing blood flow to the girlie bits might not MAKE sexual arrousal, but is should help with increased sensation in the area and therefore increase satisfaction. YMMV Mine definitely would, as too much sensitivity isn’t a good thing (as per the definition of “too much”). ---
**Author:** ![dizzee\_dee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dizzee\_dee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dizzee_dee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/25 "2016-03-11T16:38:06Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Because they are totally different. Viagra and Cialis are strictly physical drugs. By that, I mean they restore/enhance a man’s ability to have an erection. Addyi is a behavior modifying drug. It’s supposed to make a woman desire to have more sex. In short, Viagra is for men who want to have sex but can’t, Addyi is for women who can have sex but don’t want to. > > It raises a lot of questions that Viagra doesn’t. Like, where do we draw the line between normal and a medical issue. Is it when a woman is turned on 10, 9, 8, 7… times a month? Then after we do that, the question is what is actually the issue here. Is it the woman’s relative lack of sexual desire or her reaction to it? So if a woman can’t get aroused it’s a mental problem. Right. It can’t possibly be a physical issue. Right. Got it. Thanks for mansplaining it to me. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/26 "2016-03-11T17:33:55Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/27 "2016-03-11T17:45:28Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Addyi is a behavior modifying drug. It’s supposed to make a woman desire to have more sex. In short, Viagra is for men who want to have sex but can’t, Addyi is for women who can have sex but don’t want to. In other words, both Viagara and Addy are for men who want to have sex but can’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/28 "2016-03-11T17:48:20Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > To me, that question only matters for insurance purposes. Who pays for how many pills a month? Viagra has a similar issue where insurance will only pay for so many pills. I think it matters in a philosophical sense. If we say people should be turned on X times a month that will cause concern in anyone below X. I think there’s an inherent downside in defining something as an issue. We really should only be doing so when it facilitates treatment or better living. > [@squeegee](#): > > Assuming this pill actually works and there’s no down side or side effects to taking it, if a lady wants medically-boostness horny-ness every day via a pill then it’s her own damned business and we should mind our own. In a general sense I agree with you. The government should leave it to doctors and whoever’s paying for it. But if we apply the current standards this drug shouldn’t have been approved. It barely works and has very serious side effects. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/29 "2016-03-11T17:54:14Z")
> [@dizzee\_dee](#): > > So if a woman can’t get aroused it’s a mental problem. Right. It can’t possibly be a physical issue. Right. Got it. Thanks for mansplaining it to me. Not even close. It’s like you didn’t read my post at all. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/30 "2016-03-11T21:19:48Z")
> [@](#): > > They made a big deal of her sex, not her specialty) and she talked about how she would need to have her patients psychologically evaluated before she would be prescribing it. And it kind of pissed me off. well, actually, this makes perfect sense. In most cases women who are not getting aroused don’t have a physical problem at all; what they have is a psychological problem with their partner. So the doctors don’t want to prescribe a drug when a divorce or an affair would work far better. Whereas in men, being unable to get an erection when aroused is always a physical problem for which a pill is the best answer. ---
**Author:** ![dizzee\_dee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dizzee\_dee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dizzee_dee)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/31 "2016-03-11T21:22:28Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Not even close. It’s like you didn’t read my post at all. I not only read it, I quoted it. A woman not being arroused is a behavioral thing. Not physical. So now what is your point? ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/32 "2016-03-11T22:34:20Z")
> [@dizzee\_dee](#): > > So if a woman can’t get aroused it’s a mental problem. Right. It can’t possibly be a physical issue. Right. Got it. Thanks for mansplaining it to me. One might assume that if the woman’s doctor is ready to prescribe this drug then physical issues have been ruled out. Many psychoactive drugs have negative side effects so it seems prudent for the doctor to want to make sure the patient isn’t on anything that might interact badly with it, or have psychological issues that may be worsened. I think your accusation of “mansplaining” is misplaced here. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/33 "2016-03-11T23:14:43Z")
It’s on a show called Being Human on WNYC. From the [transcript](http://www.wnyc.org/story/female-viagra-sex-desire/): ( MH = Mary Harris, the host. NP = Nicole Prause, the guest) > [@](#): > > MH: Looking at her results, she’s noticed something strange. > > NP: We found that many women in our lab when they reported having an orgasm actually werenothaving any of the physical signs of an orgasm. > > MH: What does that mean to you? > > NP: I have no idea. (laughs) > > Clearly they’re having a good time. There’s some pleasure peak there, there’s something that causes them to say “I feel like that I am having some type of peak experience right now.” But that experience appears quite different for some number of women than it is for men. > > MH: Here’s another problem. Most research into the female orgasm relies on women simply telling scientists whether or not they’ve climaxed. Nikky Prause thinks that’s far too vague of a measurement. Because ifwomendon’t understand what’s happening in their own bodies - scientists won’t, either. The snippets of quote are accurate, but they don’t relate to each other and are out of context. It’s an interesting interview and a good listen. Basically the drug only works 10% better than placebo and it has dangerous interactions with antibiotics, birth control, antidepressants, and alcohol. Serious enough that patients must sign a waiver. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/34 "2016-03-12T02:22:04Z")
well, all I can say it’s about time they started studying women’s sexuality instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/35 "2016-03-12T04:41:34Z")
Word. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/36 "2016-03-12T12:22:17Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > It’s on a show called Being Human on WNYC. From the [transcript](http://www.wnyc.org/story/female-viagra-sex-desire/): > > ( MH = Mary Harris, the host. NP = Nicole Prause, the guest) > > The snippets of quote are accurate, but they don’t relate to each other and are out of context. > > It’s an interesting interview and a good listen. Basically the drug only works 10% better than placebo and it has dangerous interactions with antibiotics, birth control, antidepressants, and alcohol. Serious enough that patients must sign a waiver. That’s it - thank you!!! I tried searching on WNYC’s site, but didn’t get a hit from Being Human. Argh! Okay - a bit more clear; well, clear in that it supports **spamforbrains** ’s point - seems like a lot we don’t know about women’s sexuality… ---
**Author:** ![dizzee\_dee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dizzee\_dee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dizzee_dee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/37 "2016-03-12T14:50:29Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > One might assume that if the woman’s doctor is ready to prescribe this drug then physical issues have been ruled out. Many psychoactive drugs have negative side effects so it seems prudent for the doctor to want to make sure the patient isn’t on anything that might interact badly with it, or have psychological issues that may be worsened. > > I think your accusation of “mansplaining” is misplaced here. One might if one had not heard the quote I was speaking of. The woman said before all that she would have her female patients psychologically evaluated. Thanks for your mansplaining. > [@spamforbrains](#): > > well, actually, this makes perfect sense. In most cases women who are not getting aroused don’t have a physical problem at all; what they have is a psychological problem with their partner. So the doctors don’t want to prescribe a drug when a divorce or an affair would work far better. Whereas in men, being unable to get an erection when aroused is always a physical problem for which a pill is the best answer. I think I’m gonna have to insist on a cite for both of your points. Defining the entire scope of both male and female sexual disfunction in one poorly puncuated paragraph just isn’t enough to convince me. > [@spamforbrains](#): > > well, all I can say it’s about time they started studying women’s sexuality instead of pretending it doesn’t exist. Exactly. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/38 "2016-03-12T23:29:46Z")
> [@dizzee\_dee](#): > > I think I’m gonna have to insist on a cite for both of your points. Defining the entire scope of both male and female sexual disfunction in one poorly puncuated paragraph just isn’t enough to convince me. This thread is discussing a particular radio program. From the transcript of that particular radio program: > [@](#): > > MH: So, if you’re looking to make a sex drug for women – this is a big problem. Doctors can see that a woman’s body will respond physically to a drug like Viagra. But women don’t actually feel turned on when they take it. > > This is true for men, too. We just don’t talk about it that much. > > NP: The funny thing about Viagra, I say Viagra won’t make her pretty. And what I mean by that is - a lot of people think you need an erection, you take Viagra, you get an erection, that’s not true. You take Viagra and if your brain is sufficiently stimulated to start the cascade that would initiate an erection - then you will get an erection. So, if you take a Viagra and your partner is still very unattractive to you or being mean to you, the viagra will not be effective. So, I’d say for both men and women, we need to understand the central mechanism we would say, so the - how the brain affects the sexual response downstream. Feel free to [listen, read the summary, and/or read the transcript.](http://www.wnyc.org/story/female-viagra-sex-desire/) It’s really very interesting. Do you have a link for this quote you heard about a doctor requiring psychological evaluations before prescribing Addyi? You’re throwing around offensive (to me, anyway) accusations of “mansplaining” (god, I hate that term) and demanding cites to refute your own unsupported hearsay “quote.” I’m genuinely interested in the topic and would really like to hear or read more about it if you could provide a link. ---
**Author:** ![dizzee\_dee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dizzee\_dee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dizzee_dee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/39 "2016-03-12T23:53:17Z")
I was driving and heard an interview on the radio. It may well be “hearsay” in a legal aense. But I didn’t make it up and I am not lying. And my request for a cite was on the statement that most women’s sexual disfunction is psychological and all men’s sexual disfunction is physical. Do try to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534/40 "2016-03-13T00:32:07Z")
> [@dizzee\_dee](#): > > I was driving and heard an interview on the radio. It may well be “hearsay” in a legal aense. But I didn’t make it up and I am not lying. > > And my request for a cite was on the statement that most women’s sexual disfunction is psychological and all men’s sexual disfunction is physical. > > Do try to keep up. I heard the OP’s referenced interview while driving and it wasn’t much trouble to find documentation. Do you have any more information besides “on the radio” such as the name of the show, the host, any guests, when it aired, what network it might have been on, etc? I’d be delighted to keep up - help me find a cite and I’ll definitely read it. As I said, I’m genuinely interested and want to read more. And please do read or listen to the show in question. Here’s [the link again](http://www.wnyc.org/story/female-viagra-sex-desire/). It really is interesting. I’m not accusing you of making it up or lying, I’m looking for more material. I don’t think your tone of adversarial condescension accomplishes what you think it does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/womens-viagra-apparently-viagra-has-an-effect-but-women-interpret-it-differently/748534.md?page=3)