26 Drugs for Men. One for Women. The Outrageous Gap in Sexual Health Research

Remember how The Rolling Stones sang “I can’t get no satisfaction?” Well, women could be singing that tune when it comes to the appalling lack of support for their sexual health. Sing it with me: “I can’t get no women’s research.” Buckle up for a wild ride through the history of this gender disparity in sexual medicine. You’ll feel shocked, but in the end you’ll feel empowered, because this story has taken a positive turn lately. New awareness, a new medicine and new energy are changing things for women. Get ready for a crash course on this sexual health topic and discover why we can all start singing a new tune that will make us feel better in life—and more satisfied in the bedroom!

Why women were missing from the clinical conversation

For the vast majority of history, clinical research focused on male subjects, with findings only extrapolated, often incorrectly, to women’s unique bodies. In fact, it wasn’t until relatively recently, in 1993, that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) changed its policy to include women in clinical testing with the NIH Revitalization Act. Consider this: Entire fields, like cardiology research, were conducted entirely on men, even though heart disease is the number one cause of death of women in the U.S.

Why the staggering imbalance? “For lack of a better term, the patriarchy,” says sex-med gynecologist Sameena Rahman, MD. Men in power—granting research funding, conducting studies and developing medicines—have avoided or feared women’s changing bodies.

The numbers don’t lie: Women’s sexual health was ignored

Then there’s the glaring disparity in the genders for sexual health research, in particular. “Women’s health in general has taken a major back seat to men’s health, with most studies using male cohorts,” explains Janette Gray, MD, internal medicine physician and author of The Truth about Sex Hormones.

Here’s proof: Recently, the budget for women’s health research was only 10 percent of the NIH’s total budget, with menopause receiving less than .03 percent, a skinny slice of the total pie.

And here’s another painfully clear example: In 2026, scientists in Amsterdam finally mapped the nerves of the clitoris in a new study. That’s decades after mapping the nerves of the penis. “The western perspective of sexuality is primarily that of a heteronormative model with penis in vagina,” Dr. Gray explains. But that’s a problem. “The fact that only 10 percent of women have vaginal orgasms and that the clitoris has more than 8,000 nerve endings is not common knowledge.”

The 26-to-1 imbalance of sexual health treatments for women

It’s hard to treat conditions if they are never studied or given attention. So it’s no surprise that there is also a gross imbalance between the drug-based treatment options for men and women struggling with sexual dysfunction. There are currently around 26 FDA-approved products that can help improve sexual desire and performance for men. And while testosterone is found naturally in both genders, the FDA only approves it for use in men, not women.

What’s more: Four erectile dysfunction drugs are FDA-approved for men, but only one daily treatment—“pink pill” Addyi—is approved for women with hyposexual desire disorder (HSDD), clinical low desire. Viagra launched 28 years ago, while women’s health lagged a generation behind, initially launching Addyi in 2015 before finally gaining approval for women up to age 65 in 2025. A second medication, an on-demand shot called Vyleesi, is also now FDA-approved for premenopausal women with HSDD.

What you need to know about the historic FDA-approved pink pill

Women’s health champion Cindy Eckert, who fought to get Addyi approved, explains in the documentary The Pink Pill, “When Viagra was approved in 1998, it was deemed to meet such an important unmet medical need, it was literally fast-tracked for approval. It received the kind of rare status we reserve for life-saving cancer drugs or rare diseases.”

And yet it took a decade for the “female Viagra” pill to get the same approval. The FDA didn’t seem to know what to make of it. Talk about a disconnect: The agency had a male urologist review it—even though the drug is designed to work on women’s brains, not men’s penises.

“I see how often women’s sexual health concerns are minimized,” says family medicine specialist Uma Darji, MD. “Unfortunately, symptoms often are brushed off as normal or treated as something women should simply live with. This is especially true during perimenopause and menopause.”

The orgasm gap is real—and it’s bigger than you think

Much of women’s sexual identity has been geared toward pregnancy, not pleasure. “We were never taught to seek our own pleasure. We’re never taught to look for orgasm equality, or any type of equality. To be honest, we have an orgasm gap, we have pay gaps, we have all sorts of gaps in society,” says Dr. Rahman. “I want women to know they don’t have to suffer.”

What is the orgasm gap, you might ask? Research on 50,000 people shows that 95 percent of heterosexual men said they usually or always orgasm when sexually intimate, while only 65 percent of heterosexual women said the same. That’s a gap of 30 percentage points. Those rates improve with same-sex couples and women who engage in solo intimacy sessions.

Familiarity matters: The rates go down to just 11 percent of women having orgasms with casual sex or experiences with new partners. And additional studies suggest that as many as 85 percent of women fake orgasms, missing out on the pleasure they deserve.

“If all you’ve ever heard is that sex is supposed to be painful or midlife means the end of your desire and social media really depicts women as becoming more and more invisible, all of that culminates into women not expecting that they can do any better,” adds Dr. Rahman.

Historic breakthrough in women’s sexual health: the Addyi pill

“Women are more complicated than men when it comes to sexual desire and arousal,” explains Dr. Gray. But researchers finally cracked that code. Women can now use a once-daily pink pill called Addyi to treat HSDD. Addyi isn’t a take-on-demand pill like Viagra is for men. When taken daily at bedtime, it works to rebalance brain chemicals over time, much like an antidepressant, restoring sexual thoughts, anticipation and interest. Dr. Rahman is encouraged by what she sees in patients using Addyi. “It works pretty well in 50 to 60 percent of women to improve sexually satisfying events.”

The momentum building for women’s health equality

The availability of Addyi offers hope to many women and couples. “This may seem like one small step for pharma, but it is one large leap for women’s health,” says Dr. Darji. “This FDA [approval] reflects years of advocacy to close a gap that women have lived with for decades.”

Leading women’s health internist Heather Hirsch, MD, founder of the Menopause Clinic at Brigham and Women’s in Boston, uses the FDA’s recent removal of black box warnings on estrogen products as another example of women’s health moving in the right direction. “The black box warning was just one more barrier for women to get the care they need when there are already so many biases and myths surrounding women’s health.”

The future of women’s health looks bright

“Thankfully, women are now more openly talking about sexual issues; we’re destigmatizing the discussions and we have some great options. Plus, we have clinicians who are openly talking about what they offer,” says Dr. Rahman. “This is a great time for women to reduce all their suffering and really work toward a more fruitful sex life!”

If you want to talk to a trusted, private healthcare provider about your sexual health, use Woman’s World’s exclusive link to schedule a telehealth appointment with a medical expert who gets it today!