Narrowly-defined masculinity is bad for your health

Oh, wow, I’m so shocked. The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that the dietary supplement Man Up Now, which purportedly enhances male sexual performance, is dangerous, and warned consumers to avoid it. According to the FDA, Man Up Now,

…contains sulfoaildenafil, a chemical similar to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. Like sildenafil, this chemical may interact with prescription drugs such as nitrates, including nitroglycerin, and cause dangerously low blood pressure. When blood pressure drops suddenly, the brain is deprived of an adequate blood supply that can lead to dizziness or lightheadedness.

The FDA recommended that “consumers who have Man Up Now capsules should stop using them immediately.” It also warned against the potentially dangerous misperception that because the drugs are marketed as “herbal” and “all natural,” it cannot cause consumers harm. On the contrary, it seems that a number of dietary supplements aimed at enhancing sexual performance can be harmful to your health.

Let this be a lesson: rigid, narrowly-defined masculinity and the way it’s used by advertisers to make men insecure about their penises is bad for men’s health. Also bad for their health: unoriginal, sexist product names. Seriously, “Man Up Now?” What, was “Your Penis is Tiny and Everyone Knows It, Dude” too big to fit on the bottle? It’s bad enough that they’re trying to get men to buy a dangerous product by implying that a man isn’t a man unless his penis is 14 inches long and rock hard all day long. It’s quite another to do it using the most hackneyed, over-used phrase of 2010 and without any subtlety whatsoever.