Editorial from The Guide	Editorials Archive

The erection-enhancing drug Viagra has garnered enormous attention. Talk shows, editorial pages, and the Internet have been inundated with news, humor, and comment about the drug. Two messages emerge from all this Viagra hoopla.

First, American culture has made significant progress towards more rational and less destructive sexual attitudes. Two generations ago religious-based injunctions against all non-procreative sex were so pervasive that laws banned pharmacists from dispensing birth control even to married couples. But the sexual revolution won the right to reproductive choice, thus uncoupling sex from baby-making. The success of that revolution can be seen today not only in lower teen pregnancy rates, but also in the fact that Viagra is readily prescribed for unmarried, gay, and elderly men not at all interested in impregnating anyone. Better sex no longer needs to be justified by the "sacred" goal of procreation.

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But the second message gleaned from all the attention given to Viagra is less encouraging. Impotence (the inability to get or maintain an erection hard enough for fucking) is targeted for lame jokes that would not be seen as funny if maligning some other physical disability. As undeniable and insistent indicators of sexual arousal, hard-ons-- in shorts or under discussion-- still make the uptight among us embarrassed or ashamed. And many men put-down potential Viagra-users with a defensive macho swagger about not needing anything to rev up their peckers.

An unfortunate consequence of this residual discomfort is that men who might benefit from Viagra are scared to even consider it. They may deny they have any problem, either spooked by the word "impotent" or chalking up their erectile dysfunction as an inevitability of age (or diabetes or other physiological impairment). Or they may be too ashamed of their supposed "lack of virility" to approach a doctor for help. And some men-- especially if they're gay or HIV-positive-- undoubtedly are anxious about getting help for better erections, rightly or wrongly fearing their doctor's condemnation.

It's too bad that some don't seek the help Viagra can offer, because the drug is effective in up to 80 percent of men who use it properly. A pill that could restore malfunctioning lungs or kidneys or fingers would be uniformly touted as a miracle. But because Viagra works on the naughty penis, its miraculous potential is often obscured by nervous humor.

Of course, Viagra is not a sexual cure-all. For some, it brings significant side-effects (most notably headaches). It interacts dangerously with nitrate-based heart medications (and poppers) and does not yet have a proven long-term safety record. And it is expensive (around ten dollars per pill) and under-reimbursed by an insurance industry dedicated to corporate profits, not individual well-being. You have to have money to have access to Viagra, another example of sex being commodified and marketed, unfairly out-of-reach for poor people.

But Viagra's potential to enliven millions of men's sex lives is most significantly limited by individual attitudes mired in persistent shame and fear. As gay men well-versed in challenging destructive sexual values, we can lead others to the recognition that a fully-functioning penis is a wonderful part of being human. Hard-ons-- and all that you can do with them-- are life-enhancing. And any caress, sexual technique, or pharmaceutical that promotes erections where there were none before is cause for celebration.