It's a birth defect

[cjsmith]

My X chromosome is acting up again. I'm hunched in a nearly-foetal position, perched on the edge of my chair here at work, waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

Yet again the amazement rolls over me: medical science has so far done nothing about this problem. They don't fully understand its cause, they don't have a cure, they can't even usually mask the symptoms (ok I admit I haven't tried narcotics). If men as a group had anywhere near this much trouble from one syndrome, it would be Medical Enemy Number One. There'd be bazillion dollar grants to try to cure it. Until a cure was found, a man desiring corrective surgery to remove the whole offending area would be supported and empathized with and probably have the whole thing paid for by insurance. (Viagra is covered by many medical plans! That's about as medically necessary as a toupee! That's the type of service GUYS get, while I pay all my OTC painkiller costs AND my birth control pills out of pocket.)

Why are women so hated?

Comments

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

My condolences on your pain. Fortunately for me (crosses fingers, knocks on wood, etc.), my own debilitating pain of this sort went away when I went on the pill in my early 20's, and then never returned, even after I quit the pill. Of course, I did go right on to be pregnant and then lactating for 3 years, so that might have had something to do with it. :^)

Regarding Viagra being "as medically necessary as a toupee," I would have to disagree. I think that for MANY men, it's not necessary at all--that other ways of dealing with the problem would be much better and probably more effective. But for some with certain physical reasons (diabetes springs to mind), it might be the answer to something that would otherwise poison their relationship(s) and emotional health. If you've never been on SSRI's or other drugs that can interfere with this response, then you probably don't have a context for just how damaging this can be. I have had this experience, and I can tell you that, gone on long enough, it can destroy your self-esteem completely, which eventually could lead to all sorts of physical consequences stemming from not thinking you're worth taking care of. I can absolutely see Viagra being covered as a medical expense. And I also agree that it is often flagrantly abused, and that similar attention has not been paid to many "female complaints" that deserve at least equal attention.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Mine's less now, on the pill, than it was in high school. If not for the pill and newer, more powerful painkillers being invented fast enough that I can't become immune to all of them, I'd have committed suicide by now. I'm not making that up. Bad as it is now, it was far worse back then.

I can see - if I stretch my warped perceptions a ways - the self-esteem issues that could be triggered by erectile dysfunction, especially considering how much self-esteem seems to be bound up with maleness in general sometimes. Of course, self-esteem issues can be triggered by a whole host of things (including baldness, maybe?). To my mind, the "real problem" is the linking of self-esteem to hair (or to penis). On the other hand, fixing that costs more and takes more time, and sex is fun, so the Viagra solution is a great one. I just wish my concerns got decent treatment too.