The Pink Pill doc follows the long fight for a female Viagra

Last week, TIFF rolled out the pink carpet for the Canadian premiere of The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs and Who Has Control. The doc, by Montreal filmmaker Aisling Chin-Yee, tells the story of Cindy Eckert, the entrepreneur who bought the rights for the “female Viagra”—also known as flibanserin—in 2011 and has been fighting for legitimacy ever since. Eckert is American, but the movie is distinctly Toronto. The film, now streaming on Paramount Plus, is the first offering from Docs for Change, a partnership between Catalyst Studios and the Knix Fund (yes, your favourite period undies have entered the movie biz). Here are our hottest takeaways.

1. This sexy story starts in Canada Or at least with a Canadian. Irwin Goldstein, a globally recognized leader in sexual health, was born and raised in Montreal. He’s known in some circles as the Paul Revere of impotence, which is why Viagra recruited him to help connect its product with patients in the late ’90s. The idea that women can also experience dysfunction relating to sex and desire was not something the medical establishment cared to consider, but Goldstein saw potential in a female libido booster called flibanserin. When the pharma giant that owned the product was shutting down its clinical trials, Cindy Eckert bought the rights and joined Goldstein in his mission.

2. Not all heroes wear capes—but some wear pink Eckert wore a pink feather boa to the Toronto premiere—a hardly surprising choice since the colour has become her signature look and a political statement: nobody wants to talk about women’s sex drives, but you can’t ignore hot pink. In the movie, one of her lawyers advises Eckert to consider a more conservative wardrobe option for a crucial meeting with the FDA—which only leads Eckert to choose a hotter and brighter look.

3. The pink pill is named after a Grey’s Anatomy character The pharmaceutical name is flibanserin, but Eckhert’s brand is called Addyi, a tribute to her favourite Seattle Grace white coat Dr. Addison Shepherd. Grey’s also comes up later in the doc, when a critic of the pink pill suggests that women struggling with low sexual desire should just have a glass of wine or watch Grey’s Anatomy.

4. It’s not the pill—it’s the patriarchy The doc focuses on how gender bias shapes the pharmaceutical regulation and approval process and explores the deep-rooted patriarchy within the medical system. Even convincing people that female sexual pleasure is worthy of scientific investigation has been a massive hurdle. What’s more, the doc shows how the same side effects that exist for an endless number of approved prescription drugs (drowsiness, for example) were deemed unacceptably risky for women who may want to take the pink pill. The FDA even cited the risk that a woman might be drowsy while driving her children to school. The US agency also considered the possibility that the reason clinical trials showed that women taking the drug were having more sex was because they were “too drowsy to fend off their husbands.”

5. Let’s talk about sex  The team behind the doc recommends group viewings. “Let’s make this like Tupperware parties for sex,” says Abby Greensfelder, one of The Pink Pill‘s producers. Addyi is available as a prescription medication in Canada (both the FDA and Health Canada have approved it for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder) for those who are interested in asking their health care provider about it. Either way, we can all participate in the normalization of women’s sexual health.