Why female Viagra is long overdue but still not enough

So, finally, the good people at Sprout Pharmaceuticals figured out that women too need a hand up with their sex drive now and again, which is the closest anyone in the penis-envy dominated world of science (male Viagra was created primarily for men suffering from erectile dysfunction in 2003 – 12 years ago) came to acknowledging that women too have libidos, let alone that they matter.

But here’s the thing, while Viagra has become a recreational drug used by men to enhance their sexual prowess, and finding uses among the elderly (or to kill with kindness those who are on pacemakers), and men who suffer from debilitating performance anxiety, or even by athletes who use it to enhance performance in all spheres, female Viagra - or Addyi - seems to buck up the women who aren’t in the mood, and just barely that, which is harder to distinguish from women who want to but can’t.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but it sounds like the makers of Viagra took this long to figure out that enhancing men’s sexual desires alone leaves them with no one to play with, if women’s desires don’t match up. Much like a witches’ love spell, will Addyi make women wanna wanna with undesirable men? Uh oh. Addyi would work only if it fixes the situation for women who genuinely want to, but can’t. The daily pill makes it clear why we need side effects.

Thankfully, women who genuinely didn’t, can still resort to "I have a headache", and can now add the newer "I have nausea" or better still "I feel faint". And who will the pill work for: women on their first dates, the elderly who’d like to enjoy their prime time retirement (are old age homes equipped for this?) women who are mind-numbingly bored of their partners' lack of moves, and maybe just those who use sex for fitness.

While we can all hail the acknowledgement of women’s libidos, when are we going to get past the half-hearted "will you do it with me?" and into the women-taking-charge-of-the-bed phase? You know, when the men have headaches and don’t want to but the women really aren’t interested in all those bloody excuses and so head out and have affairs because what’s a red-blooded woman to do? Yeah, that one. That’s the pill I’m waiting for.