Behind every good, straight man is a sexually satisfied woman.
In the US alone approximately 30 million men are living with erectile dysfunction while an estimated 2 out of every 100 American males is not producing testosterone within a typical healthy range, a condition known as male hypogonadism. Fortunately, drugs like Viagra [sildenafil] and testosterone supplements have for decades helped men with ED and low testosterone achieve more satisfying sex lives.
However, a new study, published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, explored how the use of these libido-enhancing therapies affects society’s perception of their masculinity. Ultimately, psychology researchers at Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro found that these drugs mattered little as long as their ladies achieved orgasm.
The findings also showed that men who use Viagra [sildenafil] or testosterone injections recreationally — without an underlying medical cause — were seen as no more masculine than men who use them to treat erectile dysfunction and low T, even when they, too, consistently brought their female partner to orgasm.
The study shed light on the so-called “self-reliance rule of masculinity,” a trend in sexual health research that suggests males are seen as more manly when they don’t need help to achieve erection, and, crucially, please their female partner.
“Female partner orgasm served to ‘rescue’ social perceptions of masculinity lost to a low level of testosterone,” researchers wrote in their report.
The study involved two experiments, one which focused on Viagra use and the other on testosterone.
The first test recruited 522 participants — 54% men and 46% women with an average age of 32.2 years — to read one of eight randomly assigned sexual vignettes. The stories involved a man engaging in sexual activity three times with the same woman who either reached climax every time or not at all. Scenarios varied on whether the male character was identified as someone with ED or who takes Viagra.
After reading, participants rated the hypothetical man on his masculinity and sexual esteem.
The second test involved 711 participants and a similar set of 12 stories, this time describing a man with low, normal, or high natural testosterone, and whether he took the hormone supplamentally. Again, the women in the stories either reached orgasm every time or never. Finally, participants assessed their assigned story’s demonstration of masculinity and sexual esteem.
In both cases, the female orgasm was identified as the most influential factor, regardless of whether the man suffered ED and low T, and took drugs for it.
While men without ED or low T were generally viewed as more masculine, the presence of the female orgasm helped close that gap for men with such conditions — and that using these drugs to enhance performance, particularly when they’re not medically necessary, had no positive association with perceived manliness.
