Who buys Viagra

Washington Monthly, May, 2004 by Charles Peters

I have been puzzled by the immense sales figures racked up by Viagra and by newer but similar drugs. I had thought these drugs had been developed for seniors who wanted to put a little fun back in life and for a relatively modest number of younger men who were troubled by sexual dysfunction. But obviously millions of young men are buying these drugs.

If they really need them, how did women get pregnant before? A clue comes from Warren St. John of The New York Times. It's that men in their prime are taking Viagra not because they usually have a problem but because they don't want to have a problem tonight. I do recall, from my youth, that as the moment approaches in a relationship when it becomes clear or at least possible that this will be the night, males experience performance anxiety. In other words, Viagra and its relatives appear not so much to be an answer to a medical condition as an antidote to stage fright.