Women experiencing problems and pain with sex is not a new phenomenon. The term female sexual dysfunction is relatively new, and it’s highly politicized. The term female sexual dysfunction gets used in different ways by different groups to describe either theoretical or already identified problems with female sexual response.
The disputes about female sexual dysfunction are mainly between pharmaceutical companies who are trying to identify specific ways of defining female sexual dysfunction that can be measured and then treated with drugs and researchers, womens health advocates, and clinicians who believe that the term female sexual dysfunction is an unnecessary label and one that invents a disease where there isn’t one.
Proponents of the term argue that creating a new label allows them to systematically explore a problem that has always been there but isn’t talked about because of shame and/or ignorance. Opponents point out that the only solutions being sought are pharmaceutical ones, and question whether research that is funded by for profit companies which seek to profit enormously can be unbiased enough.
Currently female sexual dysfunction does not appear in the DSM. Instead the DSM categorizes different types of female sexual disorders, including:
- Sexual desire disorders (not wanting “enough” sex)
- Sexual arousal disorders (difficulty or inability to get turned on once you do want sex)
- Orgasm disorders (no orgasms, difficulty having orgasms when you want them, not enjoying orgasms when you have them)
- Sexual pain disorders (pain that prevents you from having sex, pain that happens during or immediately after sex)
- Sexual dysfunction caused by other medical conditions
- Sexual dysfunction caused by drugs.
