{"id":132,"date":"2014-01-21T11:30:15","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T19:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/culturecrasher.com\/chronicles\/?p=132"},"modified":"2018-04-01T21:55:38","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T04:55:38","slug":"living-in-the-viagra-age-a-survival-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/culturecrasher.com\/chronicles\/living-in-the-viagra-age-a-survival-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Living in the Viagra Age: A Survival Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s raining Viagra. It\u2019s not just the erection campaign advertising including television commercials, radio spots, billboards, magazine articles, and late night talk shows.\u00a0 The U.S. has become Viagra Nation.\u00a0 It\u2019s like an overexposed celebrity you still hear about eighteen times a day in the media.\u00a0 Junk e-mail, or spam,\u00a0 is perhaps the biggest pusher of the little blue pill.\u00a0 It is estimated that twenty-five percent of all \u201cspam\u201d is trying to sell Viagra. The federal Can-Spam Act was created in part to combat this nuisance.\u00a0 It still hasn\u2019t solved the problem and you may need to take matters into your own hands.\u00a0 Consider a spam blocker.<\/p>\n

Viagra saturation has societal consequences on our perceptions of masculinity, sex,\u00a0 and norms of behavior. In a Mother Jones<\/i> interview, Meika Loe (The Rise of Viagra: How the Little Blue Pill Changed Sex in America)<\/i> attributes sociologist George Ritzer\u2019s term \u201cMcDonaldization\u201d to sex in our society.\u00a0 It refers to the notion that the ethic of fast food has saturated our culture in how many products and ideas are sold including sexuality \u2013 and Viagra. According to Loe, \u201cWe are constantly striving for the unattainable\u201d. This is the Supersize trap.\u201d I believe I\u2019ve found a man who is a victim of that trap. Even the government has got skin in the foreskin game.\u00a0 A Jan 13, 2014 Reuters report notes that \u201cPenis pumps cost the U.S. government’s Medicare program $172 million between 2006 and 2011\u201d.<\/i><\/p>\n

I meet the life adventurer and full time Viagra enthusiast we shall refer to as the \u201cSan Diegan\u201d at the Jamba Juice in San Diego\u2019s downtown Horton Plaza.\u00a0 Today is a special shopping day.\u00a0 Once a month, the San Diegan takes an arduous journey to acquire a few pharmaceutical items he deems necessary to live life at \u201can optimal level.\u201d\u00a0 He is dressed casually in jeans, flip flops, and a T-Shirt. He sips on his mixed juice drink and delights in the selection he has made.\u00a0 He is starting an all raw foods diet in hopes it will increase his energy level. I get the impression that the San Diegan often looks for exterior means by which to improve himself.\u00a0 Viagra is one of those ways.<\/p>\n

To understand the Viagra phenomenon is to understand the very nature of the society in which we live, our place in it, and how live in the New Viagra Order.\u00a0 First, we must examine how we got here.\u00a0 The answer is money. Lots of money for advertising.\u00a0 And advertising isn\u2019t just advertising. Meika Loe brings up a disturbing truth: \u201cWhat they don\u2019t know is that when they are looking at their favorite medical websites or seeing a news program that features a medical expert, a good number of those experts are paid consultants. I think we need to be wary of this\u2026blurry line between science and marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viagra debuted in 1998 and was an immediate commercial success.\u00a0 Men suffering from varying degrees of impotency pounded down the doors to doctors\u2019 offices worldwide.\u00a0 Two million prescriptions were filled in the first two months of the debut.\u00a0 By 2005, twenty-three million men were prescribed the wonder drug. Pfizer, the manufacturer, has made billions. Every year.<\/p>\n

The San Diegan, an avid reader with a scary knack for recall (he once competed on\u00a0 a short-lived game show Win Ben Stein\u2019s Money<\/i>) tells me he first got the idea of trying \u201cvitamin V\u201d, as he calls it, from one of his favorite online magazines – Salon.com.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to see how the minor manifesto Diary of a Viagra Fiend<\/i> by Jason Gallaway could entice new members into pill popping. Galloway describes his first experience on Viagra: \u201cMan, this is great. The surprise in my pants is like Elvis in the ’68 comeback special, when he showed up all slimmed down, clad head-to-toe in black leather, looking like a bad ass, and everybody was damn glad to see he could still rock. Yeah. That’s me.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can you beat that?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a virile teenage boy who fears the revelatory biological issues inherent in walking around in non-constraining jogging pants, you may wonder what all the fuss is about.\u00a0 Be grateful for what you don\u2019t know.\u00a0 What you chose not to know is that you are getting older and there are problems associated with aging.\u00a0 At least one of those problems has been taken care of for you already.\u00a0 Though your penile prowess naturally declines with age, there is a pharmaceutical solution. You sigh in relief.<\/p>\n

But wait. If things are good down there now\u2026how good could they be if you boosted them even further?\u00a0 Galloway writes: \u201cI am overjoyed at this medical breakthrough and am thinking about having a big red and blue “S” tattooed on you know what. Maybe get if fitted for a little red cape.\u201d\u00a0 Could you become Superman?\u00a0 The drug companies want you to think so.\u00a0 Not officially, of course. They are only concerned with market share.\u00a0 Guess what? You\u2019re the new market share.\u00a0 That market includes the San Diegan, who, though not a teenager, is a relatively young man.\u00a0 A reason Viagra is popular with men who do not suffer from impotence is the reduction in the refractory period \u2013 the time it takes to become hard after ejaculation.\u00a0 The San Diegan first tried Viagra when he was twenty-eight.\u00a0 Since then, it has become a staple of his, er\u2026routine . Much like the Jamba juice he picks up three times a week.<\/p>\n

The San Diegan, now in his forties describing himself as a \u201cpartier\u201d, goes on to explain, \u201cI like to go to parties and I like to sneak into them even if I\u2019m not invited.\u201d\u00a0 Included in his survival kit (the black bag he perpetually carries) are a couple of doses of Viagra.\u00a0 The San Diegan does not own a car.\u00a0 I ask him how long he has been without wheels and he says, \u201ca couple of years.\u201d\u00a0 I feel a bit judgmental pressing him further to ask him why he goes without such a basic necessity. Why doesn\u2019t he use some money he has saved to purchase a vehicle? He vaguely asserts, \u201cI\u2019m doing some other things. I just have to concentrate on doing some other things.\u201d\u00a0 I ask about his job status to which he replies, \u201cI\u2019m just kinda hanging out.\u201d The San Diegan has just been laid off of a long term office temp job. For the last couple of years he has gone though a cycle of working for just enough time to collect unemployment for the other half of the year.\u00a0 This strategy gives him the time and clarity \u201cto do the things in life that really matter.\u201d Amongst those things are surfing, writing, partying, and popping Viagra.<\/p>\n

When economic times are hard and you\u2019re not getting hard, you have an option: go to Mexico for your Viagra.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the San Diegan does his shopping, and hence our destination. On average, prescription drugs in Mexico are half of the cost that they are here in the United States. Sometimes they are less.\u00a0 Keep in mind, it is illegal to import a prescription drug unless it is for personal or family use.\u00a0 Use common sense when determining what would be considered a personal supply.<\/p>\n

The red San Diego City Trolley stops in front of us. It reminds me of a symbol of my childhood. I can\u2019t help but think what Mr. Rogers would think of our mission into a foreign land via the trolley to snag an erection drug.\u00a0 The San Diegan boards by flashing his transit pass. I pay for my day pass. Mass transit is a weird thing. You see and rub elbows with people you never do during the course of car driven Los Angeles life.\u00a0 There are a lot of Mexican day workers on this bus ride.\u00a0 I see callused hands. I imagine the laborious work of the men retreating back into their country to feed their families.\u00a0 And here the San Diegan and myself are on a leisurely afternoon, invading their country for kicks.\u00a0 It\u2019s obscene.<\/p>\n

When we arrive, the sight of the world\u2019s most visited border runway looks like an army checkpoint.\u00a0 The whole trip, complete with screaming kids and bad breath, has taken almost an hour. But going through the Mexican border guards is a breeze. They might as well not even be there.\u00a0 They are like attendants at a parking garage where no fee is due and wave you by.\u00a0 A short walk into Tijuana and the first thing you notice are pharmacies. Lots of them.\u00a0 They have names that make you scratch your head like \u201cNew York Pharmacy\u201d, \u201cMedicine Man Farmacia\u201d, and \u201cAmerican Pharmacy\u201d. The drug stores closest to the border cater to Americans such as senior citizens who want to save money on their heart medication. The stores also cater to shoppers, like the San Diegan, who seek substances unavailable in the U.S. like Piracetam – the so-called \u201csmart drug\u201c that the San Diegan believes helps him with his creative pursuits.<\/p>\n

The San Diegan subscribes to the notion of \u201cBetter Living Through Chemistry\u201d. This idea, originally a slogan the DuPont company adopted during the 1930\u2019s, was co-opted by the 1960\u2019s counterculture for their own purposes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now the San Diego stands tall with the idea for his<\/i> own purposes. On the Viagra phenomenon, the San Diegan enthusiastically says, \u201cit\u2019s been a real boon to our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evaluating the truth of this assertion depends on who you are and where you are in the social strata.\u00a0 Viagra has critical affects of people of various persuasions, occupations, and economic conditions.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a hedonist, Viagra is a godsend.\u00a0 If you\u2019re a gun-toting member of the National Rifle Association, you could have a small member which will look bigger if it\u2019s hard, so Viagra may be for you.\u00a0 If you\u2019re Hugh Hefner, you\u2019ve got nothing left to prove and freely admit to Viagra use. If you\u2019re any man you probably hate yourself for not being him.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a critic of the capitalist system, (I won\u2019t call you a Marxist because there aren\u2019t enough of you), the Viagra phenomenon is further evidence of runaway excess.\u00a0 According to Meika Loe:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re really seeing the fusion of science and capitalism, and that can be troubling when we still hold medicine and science up to a very high standard. Most people believe science to be quite neutral and unbiased\u2026One of the things I did not anticipate going into my five years of research. I attended meeting after meeting about sexual dysfunction, medical meetings for medical credits, rooms of 500 medical practitioners and featured speakers. About halfway through my research I found out that the majority of the speakers are associated with the industry in some way, either as paid consultants or investigators, and that many of the people in the audience are, too. It even affects publishing of clinical trials. The sad thing is that most people don\u2019t realize this.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are Christian fundamentalist steeped in end times conspiracy, chalk up Viagra to your list of signs of the Antichrist.\u00a0 \u201cPfizer\u201d and \u201cViagra\u201d each contain six letters.\u00a0 Pfizer began shipping its first U.S. products containing radio frequency identification tags on Viagra packaging.\u00a0 Pharmacies and wholesalers can verify the electronic product code through electronic scanners that transmit the code over the Internet directly to Pfizer\u2019s corporate website.\u00a0 Pfizer claims it does not collect patient information. The stated intent of the technology is to combat drug counterfeiters, of which Viagra is a favorite. An obvious ploy. Remember, the Antichrist is a deceiver. Write to the 700 Club (and send more money) to get the word out.<\/p>\n

If you work in a drugstore in Tijuana, you can take a very hands-on approach to Viagra sales.\u00a0 When we enter the Seven-Eleven style drug store, help isn\u2019t easy to find at first.\u00a0 When we do track down a pharmacist, he adamantly denounces the San Diegan\u2019s frugal idea: to save some money, he is considering purchasing the generic version of the drug. The pharmacist, who seems more like a store clerk, insures us the real Viagra is better.\u00a0 He knows.\u00a0 We take his advice, though we are a little disturbed by the extent of his interest in the San Diegan\u2019s needs.\u00a0 This unusual encounter further compels me to learn how all kinds of people are affected by the little blue pill.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a paranormal investigator on the hunt for Sasquatch or Yeti in Appalachia, Viagra may be of use to you. \u00a0During those long excursions in the high mountains tracking, collecting Bigfoot dung, and speaking with local hermits, the thin air can really slow you down.\u00a0 Viagra was conceived as a potential treatment for high blood pressure and sildenafil (Viagra\u2019s chemical name) causes the lungs to relax. In 2004, an experiment involving Mt.Everest mountaineers showed Viagra increased the heart\u2019s maximum workload.\u00a0 Another study involving cyclists at a high altitude showed a thirty-three percent improvement in the average time of those who took the drug compared to those who took a placebo. You may be able to solve the case of the missing link faster than you realized.\u00a0 Of course, if you do find Bigfoot, he may be more surprised at the sight of you on Viagra than you are of him.\u00a0 The same studies showed no sign of performance increases at sea level, so don\u2019t waste your supply on the chupacabra hunt in Mexico.<\/p>\n

Atten-hut! Military researchers are considering a study to learn if Viagra can help soldiers perform better at high altitudes. Say you\u2019re stationed in the mountains of Afghanistan, – get ahead of the curve and have your worried wife back in the States send you a pallet of little blue pills, it could save your life.\u00a0 Assure to her that you won\u2019t be tempted by the Afghani women because if you touch one, the woman could be subject to \u201cmercy killing\u201d by her male relatives to defend the family\u2019s honor.\u00a0 And you couldn\u2019t have that.\u00a0 And that brings us to the obvious related subject. Osama bin Laden.\u00a0 Osama Bin Laden fathered twenty-four children and was found with a huge stash of pornography-drenched computer hard drives in his compound (a detail regrettably left out of Zero Dark Thirty<\/i>).\u00a0 Did Osama use Viagra?\u00a0 HOLY JIHAD! Could that be that the reason he was one step ahead of everyone in mountains of Tora Bora? Through what channels could he have gotten his supply? What kind of coordination would the courier have had to do?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true. The Middle East parties too. Islam parties. In Dubai, Pfizer\u2019s office reports a dramatic rise in Viagra sales during the Eid al-Fitr festival, the breaking of Ramadam\u2019s fast.\u00a0 According to the Jerusalem Post<\/i>, a prescription for Viagra is issued in Israel on average once every minute.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re Jewish, know that there was a ban on Viagra during the holiest holiday. The coating was considered inedible during Passover. Thank the God of Moses that a solution has been found. You\u2019ll need to stock up on a special variety of Viagra to party on Passover.\u00a0 Pfizer Pharmaceuticals-Israel manufactures a version encased in a special soluble kosher gelatin capsule.\u00a0 Swallowing the capsule does not break Halakhah (Jewish Law) because the Viagra does not come into direct contact with the body.\u00a0 Just make sure you\u2019re doing it with a Jewish girl. I\u2019d say \u201cporkin\u201d, but that that wouldn\u2019t be kosher.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an environmentalist, Viagra is a beacon of hope for a dying planet.\u00a0 For years, conservationists have been turning blue in the face over the destruction of rare animals for the purpose of grinding them up into sex potions.\u00a0 Rhino horns, tiger penises, endangered sea turtle eggs, and even sea cucumbers have been traditional agents for boosting strength of the male member.\u00a0 Pharmacological answers to impotence certainly are gaining converts who had previously used environmentally damaging folk remedies. A study in the science journal Environmental Conversation<\/i> found that in Hong Kong, the demand for similarly priced animal products for impotency at pharmacies had fallen off by half.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the bright Hawaiian shirt I am wearing. Maybe it\u2019s the San Diegan\u2019s too-cool-for-school demeanor.\u00a0 The call rings out and I feel a little reflexive tug from inside. \u201cBag check,\u201d says a border security guard.\u00a0 I look at the San Diegan with a sternness that demands for an explanation. I thought you said this was okay<\/i>.\u00a0 They rummage through his bag and discover the Viagra and some Piracetam. They ask if he has a prescription for those items.\u00a0 He says he left the prescription at home. The border guard gives him the weak reprimand of a parent who knows the child is not listening. They check my bag too, but seem more occupied with their colleagues snickering in the corner over the Viagra and the San-Diegan\u2019s awkwardness. I swear one of them is making an sophomoric humping gesture.<\/p>\n

If you are a Floridian and concerned about privacy, you can cover your prescription Viagra tracks by making an arrangement with a friend to fill the prescription under his name.\u00a0 Under Florida state law, it is usually okay to prescribe medication in a third party\u2019s name if they agree and the doctor accurately documents it.\u00a0 However, if you are a habitual drug offender like Rush Limbaugh,\u00a0 you may be flagged for this practice as was he during a three hour detainment by the country sheriff at the Palm Beach International Airport.<\/p>\n

A feminist perspective on the Viagra phenomenon criticizes the focus on the penis. There was already much too much penis in a world before Viagra.\u00a0 Now, focusing on not just a penis, but a hard<\/i> penis seems to be a way for men to reassert their dominance and hence the patriarchal problem with society in the first place. So, this is a problem.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a man strapped for cash, Viagra may be a necessary aid when you try to cash in at the local sperm bank\u00a0\u00a0 The preferred age for donors is twenty-two to forty and often the individual must have a verifiable college education and be in good health.\u00a0 But, if you\u2019re college educated, why would you be doing such an embarrassing task where only the best candidates receive a paltry two hundred dollars per donation?\u00a0 The answer is that you majored in liberal arts and that means you\u2019ve got some serious work to do at sperm central.\u00a0 But it\u2019s cold in that room and every time you go in you\u2019re staring at a non-caring cup. Blame Shakespeare and Nietzsche. You could use some love and attention for your donation preparation because performance anxiety in this clinical environment is not uncommon. Viagra is your Popeye spinach.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t get too much of a good thing, you might be a Viagraholic.\u00a0 If Viagra is destroying your life, there is hope.\u00a0 You can check into a 12 step program at Viagraholics Anonymous (viagraholics.com).\u00a0 There you will find testimonials of those afflicted with Viagra addiction.\u00a0 One addict confesses, \u201cI couldn\u2019t go into the office because I couldn\u2019t control my erections…When I lost my job, I just stayed home all day, taking Viagra and masturbating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alternatives to Viagra do exist and one would be remiss not to seek them out.\u00a0 Lay off the impotence-inducing recreational drugs like pot (which the San Diegan admits to using occasionally).\u00a0 You could also either A) Get a hotter girlfriend or B) Get a girlfriend who doesn\u2019t care. Each has an up and a down side.<\/p>\n

The San Diegan has the non-performance angle covered. He says he carries the Viagra with him \u201cas an insurance policy.\u201d He explains that during his first time with a new woman he can experience \u201cstage fright.\u201d\u00a0 He adds \u201cIt\u2019s not just a pharmacological help, but a psychological help because you really don\u2019t have to worry because it\u2019s not going to fail. You\u2019re not going to psych yourself out.\u201d So Viagra is like the ultimate wingman, evening holding your hand when you\u2019re approaching the landing pad.<\/p>\n

San Diegan explains the problem of performance anxiety.\u00a0 Some men, even young men that are physically healthy, have problems achieving an erection when the heat is on.\u00a0 The extreme of this is James Spader\u2019s character in Sex, Lies and Videotape<\/i> who can only get off if he watches women confessing their sexual histories on video.\u00a0 Luckily for Spader, he had Andy McDowell set him straight. Curing Mr. Softy for you might be Tony Robbins or some other self-help guru to raise your confidence level.\u00a0 Dudley Danoff, MD, a Los Angeles urologist and the author of Superpotency<\/i>, states the benefits for someone without ED, \u201care mostly psychogenic. If I were to give a blue-colored placebo to 100 guys under 50 years old, 30 of them would call in the morning and say, \u2018That pill was like magic.\u2019”<\/p>\n

But the San Diegan is convinced that it\u2019s the Viagra that makes the world an easier place to live in. Like computers. And we know the truth about that.\u00a0 So, what if you pop a pill in anticipation of the big score only to find that you\u2019re all revved up with no place to go?\u00a0 The San Diegan says he\u2019s never had that problem.\u00a0 But the ultimate question still haunts the dark regions of the Viagra user\u2019s psyche, the place where killer clowns and fanged vaginas exist. What exactly do you do \u201cif your erection lasts longer than four hours\u201d?\u00a0 The commercials simply say \u201cseek medical attention\u201d.\u00a0 What does that mean?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the worst nightmare for Viagra users: A late night dash to the hospital, only to wait another six hours in an emergency room sporting a chubby while patients with \u201curgent emergencies\u201d are wheeled into a doctor\u2019s salvation, one by one.\u00a0\u00a0 This ain\u2019t no party and your condition can be a sign of priapism, a rare condition defined by prolonged erections without presence of sexual arousal.\u00a0 It is associated with hypertension, some blood diseases, and drug abuse.\u00a0 Priapism is dangerous if not treated.\u00a0 If you have a painful erection for over twelve hours, you can experience permanent damage.\u00a0 Depending upon what type of priapism is thought to be the culprit, the treatment could be drawing blood from the penis with a needle and injecting saline or performing a surgical shunt.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to know what that involves.<\/p>\n

Viagra has made us face other uncomfortable realities.\u00a0 Once upon a time was that creepy Bob Dole thing. But now, it\u2019s your Dad. And all your friends dads. And your friends and maybe it won\u2019t stop until it\u2019s you too. Wait. You don\u2019t want to think about Viagra and your Dad. Time to tap into the neural linguistic programming you learned from Tony Robbins.\u00a0 Every time you\u2019re at your parents\u2019 house and stumble upon your father\u2019s Viagra bottle in the medicine cabinet, pull on your ring finger which you have programmed to induce a satisfactory immersive recollection beautiful swell across the horizon on a tropical island vacation. The one you saw played back in the high def television at your favorite Thai restaurant.<\/p>\n

I ask the San Diegan if he had thought about using a self-help method rather than Viagra to combat performance anxiety.\u00a0 He says he\u2019s a big believer in self help and regularly practices yoga and meditation.\u00a0 He is quick to assure me that it is only the first time with a new woman that can be a problem for him.\u00a0 \u201cAfter that, I\u2019m\u00a0 okay.\u201d\u00a0 He adds, \u201cI don\u2019t have ED, by any means.\u201d\u00a0 The San Diegan, who holds a master\u2019s degree and formerly instructed at a community college, says about Viagra and the other ED drugs, \u201cI think they have virile affect and are fully integrated into the mainstream culture. They\u2019re here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be wary of the myth that Viagra is a magic bullet for your love life or waning manhood.\u00a0 To be sure, the strength of Viagra is its ability to correct a man’s erection problems. Whether this remedy solves the problems in his relationship is another story. Often, men and women lack a shared language for understanding each other. As we are continually reminded by advertisements and testimonials in the media, Viagra can help correct the erection problem. Australian researchers have concluded that the omnipresence of Viagra commercials has created sexual anxiety in men who previously did not have a performance problem.\u00a0 Meika Loe concurs, \u201cworrying about ED may in fact cause ED,\u201d she says. If a man is worried only about his lost machismo while his partner is concerned about a lack of emotional intimacy, then the reconstitution of a firm penis is not likely to provide them with a happily-ever-after. And that\u2019s not good for anyone.<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that Viagra and other ED drugs have a long life ahead of them.\u00a0 Longer. Harder. Superviagra. MegaViagra.\u00a0 If you\u2019re an investor, the ups and downs of the market can be staggering.\u00a0 Any improvement over the current drugs will be met with a spike in the price of the company stock. One thing to be sure of: female Viagra is the holy grail of chemical sex.\u00a0 Invest early, sell quickly, and you\u2019ll you be rich. If women with pent up frustration get their due, and use it with the self-knowledge that some Viagra men lack, the world will be a kinder, gentler place.\u00a0\u00a0 And that\u2019s good for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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