How the "Even The Score," women's sexual health campaign actually devalues female sexuality...
A few weeks a go in my women’s sexuality class, we were discussing female sexual health and the medicalization of female sexuality when our professor showed us a website (http://eventhescore.org/about-us/) for a women’s sexual health campaign called, “Even The Score.” At face value, the purpose of the campaign seems to be inherently feminist, however, it actually reinforces a heteronormative sexual hierarchy, placing male pleasure at the center.
The “Even The Score,” campaign claims that its goal is, “To serve as a voice for American women who believe that it’s time to level the playing field when it comes to the treatment of women’s sexual dysfunction.” The premise of the campaign is that 43% of women suffer from a “sexual dysfunction disorder,” so in order to resolve this and treat women as sexually equal to men, they advocate for the approval by the FDA of a drug to treat this “female sexual dysfunction.”
My first issue with this is the concept of “female sexual dysfunction,” or “FSD.” There are several different types of FSD disorders according to the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP), such as Sexual Aversion Disorder, Female Sexual Arousal Disorder, Female Orgasmic Disorder, and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, which is the one the “Even The Score,” campaign emphasizes when discussing FSD statistics. To give you the gist of what the criteria for one of these disorders is, ARHP defines Female Orgasmic Disorder as, “Persistent or recurrent delay in, or absence of, orgasm following a normal sexual excitement.” So basically any woman who takes a longer time to orgasm (which is most women), or doesn’t orgasm at all after having “normal sexual excitement,” (whatever the hell “normal” is supposed to mean) can be categorized as having Female Orgasmic Disorder. Crazy right???
So in order to help these women who suffer from “FSD,” which can basically include any woman who doesn’t always want to have sex, or one who takes a long time to orgasm, regardless of the circumstances (for example being mad at your partner, or being stressed out from work), the “Even The Score,” campaign proposes taking a drug that will “cure” your “sexual dysfunction,” and make women sexually equal to men. HA!
As a modern day feminist, I think the thing that annoys me the most about this campaign is the fact that it had such potential to really be a movement toward getting female sexuality and sexual rights equal to those of men. But instead, it advocates for popping a magical pill that will rid women of their non-existent sexual disorders.
What’s also mind-blowing to me is the fact that multiple studies have shown that at least 75% of women are unable to achieve orgasm through vaginal penetration alone, meaning that clitoral stimulation is also needed. But instead of creating a campaign that promotes manual and oral stimulation of the clit during sex, “Even The Score,” decides to categorize all of the women who fall into that 75% as having a “sexual dysfunction,” and suggests that they take a drug they know almost nothing about, that could be extremely hazardous to their health to “fix” their “disorder.”
The way our society views sex is through a heteronormative, patriarchal lens where women are assumed to be straight, and the physical action of sex means vaginal penetration, therefore making men’s sexual pleasure more important than the pleasure of women. “Even The Score,” supports these social structures by perpetuating the fallacy of female sexual dysfunction, and proposing an economically motivated “solution,” in order for women to better enjoy heterosexual, penetrative sex.
Until society starts placing value on clitoral stimulation, female sexuality will never truly be equal to the sexuality of men.