Turning It On May Do More than Turn You On

interest in FSD are interviewed, as are members of the New View Campaign, a group of researchers, educators, health care providers, and activists led by psychologist Leonore Tiefer, that has challenged the medicalization of female sexuality. In addition, footage of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel that reviewed and ultimately did not approve Procter & Gamble’s testosterone patch, Intrinsa, in 2004 is shown, which illustrates well the tension regarding the stakes for Procter & Gamble and for those who advocated against Intrinsa’s approval. Canner briefly explores the marketing of female genital cosmetic surgery, including an interview with a patient who experienced serious complications resulting from a procedure. Although this exploration provides some thought-provoking moments, its inclusion in the film is not well-woven into the overall narrative. Ultimately, the segment on female genital cosmetic surgery seems out of place, despite its relevance to the cultural moment of women’s sexuality and FSD. As a sexuality researcher and educator, I highly recommend this film to colleagues, students, and the general public. I believe it would be particularly helpful to show in college-level human sexuality, health education, gender studies and women’s studies classes, and to use as a point of discussion related to how sexual problems come to be named, understood, and addressed. As sexual medicine grows as a field, instructors in nursing and medical schools would be wise to consider whether showing this film could play a role in the professional and ethical development of their students. Sex coaches, counselors, and therapists may also find it helpful to lend this video to women or couples who struggle to make peace with the normal and varying range of female sexual response. Although the film has had some commercial success at being shown widely to the general public, media representations of female sexual problems that focus on dysfunction and medical solutions (as represented in Orgasm, Inc.) suggest that more diverse perspectives, including those depicted in the film, may better inform the general public about issues facing women’s sexuality, including a readiness by some to profit from what is, for some women, a normal range of experience. Indeed, one of the most emotionally moving narratives of the film follows a woman who initially expresses long-term distress over not being able to orgasm ‘‘the right way’’ (which, to her, means during vaginal intercourse). Canner accompanies this woman on her quest to experience orgasm from intercourse using a device, dubbed the Orgasmatron, which involves surgical placement. Bearing witness to this woman’s feelings of hope, inadequacy, disappointment, and self-acceptance may be of interest to audiences concerned with promoting women’s sexual health, and may be helpful to other women who are in the midst of coming to terms with whether their sexual experiences are ‘‘normal.’’ Orgasm Inc. is informative, consciousness-raising, entertaining, vulnerable, tongue-in-cheek, and sad. It documents the efforts of those who have pushed for FSD terminology and pharmaceutical treatments, as well as those, such as members of the New View Campaign in particular, who have challenged the terminology, as well as proposed treatments for FSD. I highly recommend this film, as it is a ‘‘must-see’’ for anyone working in the field of research or education related to women’s sexuality.