About two weeks ago, I saw a commercial for “Women ExtenZe.” It claims to be the female version of ExtenZe, a “natural male enhancement” drug. What bothered me about the commercial was that under the guise of selling a product for women, they were really selling a product for men. It was all from the male point of view- about pleasing your man, being a better lover for your man, having more sex with your man. At times, it was even speaking directly to men, urging them to buy this product for their wife or girlfriend. Right, because the reason she’s not having amazing sex with you every night must be some sort of medical issue that she needs a pill for.

Just take a look at this ad from the “for women” section of the main site:

Does this look like an ad aimed toward women? When women are interested in revving up their sex lives, do you think that this image is what most women have in mind for themselves? Or does it seem more likely that this ad is aimed at men? Just look at the line at the bottom: “All new formula Heightens Orgasms and triples her sex drive!” Her sex drive. Not your sex drive. This ad is for men. Not women.

And then there’s this ad image from the “for women” site:

The image is obviously meant to intrigue women more than men, but the product is supposed to be for women. So…why is it that all we see of her is her arms and legs? We can’t even see her face. This, again, obviously isn’t about her. It’s about what she can do for him.

Women ExtenZe pretends to be a long-awaited gift for women. On the website, they say:

 The problem used to be that most resources were spent developing products to  enhance sexual pleasure for men. Even before the ultra-successful ExtenZe  formula was developed, men were able to get prescriptions for enhancement  products like Viagra and others. No one seemed to notice that women around the  world were practically begging for products to boost their own sexual pleasure.  With the creation of Women ExtenZe, we've leveled the playing field.

But, again, they prove that this isn’t about female pleasure at all. It’s all about what women can do to make things better in bed for their man. In one of their customer reviews, one unnamed woman says:

 I forgot how much I enjoyed making love to my husband until I tried Women  Extenze.

So, listen up, fellas! Instead of working with your wife to fix your relationship that for whatever number of reasons has become sexless, you can just give her these pills every day and everything will be magically orgasmic.

I don’t think so.

Where is the talk about female pleasure for the sake of female pleasure!? Why does a female’s sexual response always have to be measured by a man? Talking about female sexuality is a good thing, but I don’t believe that ExtenZe’s motives are pure.

Pun intended.

~ Samantha