T03-O-07 Gender stereotypes in sexology and sexual dysfunction research

Abstract

Major changes have occurred in male and female dysfunction research. Male erectile dysfunction has been re-conceptualized as an organic dysfunction, which marks a dramatic shift from previous conceptions of psychogenic impotence developed during the 60’ and the 70s. The release of sildenafil in 1998 was the corner stone of a new paradigm of treatments focusing on male penile activity, far remote from any psychological approaches. More recently, medical sexologists started to reconsider Female Sexual Dysfunction using the same organic biological model of sexual function. New pharmaceutical products are currently under trial for the treatment of this new category of female sexual disorder. But as opposed to the absence of public adverse reaction to the development of this approach of male function, many voices raised to oppose this new conception of female function. A major discussion took place in the British Medical Journal (2003) stating that female sexual function was not organically driven, but rather determined by the social, psychological and interpersonal context of female sexual activity and relations. One of the major dimension of this discussion opposed the so-called simplicity of male sexual function to the complexity of female sexual function. The presentation, which takes place in the field of scientific history will present evidence of the permanence of traditional social scripting of male and female sexuality and their influence in the most advanced scientific research in this field. Does sexology science also consider that men come from Mars and women from Venus?