Whats in a Disorder: A Cultural Analysis of Medical and Pharmaceutical Constructions of Male and Female Sexual Dysfunction in A New View of Women’s Sexual Problems by Ellyn Kaschak and Leonore Tiefer

SUMMARY. This paper analyzes the emergence of two FDA-approved products to treat “sexual disorders”: Viagra, a drug prescribed for the treat-ment of erectile dysfunction, and the Eros, a device prescribed for the treat-ment of female sexual dysfunction. Through an analysis of advertising and promotional materials for Viagra and the Eros, we argue that these pharma-ceutical devices and the discourses they circulate reinforce normative gen-der ideals by enacting dominant cultural narratives of masculinity, femininity, and male and female sexuality. These cultural narratives of nor-mative gender structure sexuality in such a way that reinforces certain kinds of masculinity, femininity, and (hetero)sexuality, thereby rendering “atypi-cal ” gender and sexual expressions, desires, and appearances invisible and marginal. We argue that these constructions reify cultural ideologies about “what counts ” as legitimate and appropriate sexuality and that these con