Asexual Community condemns Approval of Flibanserin

The approval of Addyi (flibanserin), a non-hormonal drug to treat low interest in sex among women, by the US Food and Drug Administration has sparked a debate, bringing cultural and medical factors in for defining what normal human sexual desire is.

There is no doubt that the drug will better the plight of many women who are diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), which results into lack of interest in sex. The drug will be available for sale this fall and many physicians will not show any reluctance to prescribe the drug to women who need them.

However, some say that the approval is not a progress, but a dangerous way to medicalize asexuality. An FDA panel voted in June in favor of the sale of flibanserin, but a network of sexual activists, led by the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), have come up with a petition urging the FDA to retract the approval.

On Change.org, they argue that the drug poses the risk of turning a sexual orientation into a health condition. The approval for the drug, made by Sprout Pharmaceuticals, has surprised Sara Parker, who runs TheAsexualityBlog.com.

She says the agency was forced to approve the drug because of the mounting pressure from grassroots groups that had begun criticizing the agency that not approving the drug was nothing, but a clear reflection of it being gender bias.

"I feel like it perpetuates the mentality that sexuality and sexual desire is normal or mandatory in some way", she said.