Sexual Desire

In a ceremony at a private home in Van Nuys last week, Gov. Pete Wilson signed a law requiring the chemical castration of repeat child molesters when paroled. But the law, which goes into effect in January, is sure to face legal challenges. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union will argue that injections of the hormone-suppressing drug Depo-Provera are a violation of an individual's right to privacy and cause medical problems.

Sometimes during sex, Gina, a happily married woman of 39, mentally morphs her husband into Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean Claude Van Damme--or a hunka-hunka fusion of all three. His arms and chest swell into strapping, heave-ho pistons of testosterone-pumping power. She, in turn, feels "tiny," temptingly gorgeous, a boiling Vesuvius of irresistible sexuality.

Medical researchers are busy playing catch-up. Studies are being designed and rethought to include the impact of various drugs, lifestyle changes and environmental factors on women's health, to balance the data available exclusively about men's health. This process is fraught with obstacles to clear thinking presented by the way researchers, both male and female, have been socialized. One example of this is the search for medicines that will boost women's sex drives.

Thirty years after initiating his pioneering research on sexuality, Dr. William Masters says he is so disappointed by Americans' many misconceptions about sex that he is trying a thoroughly modern approach: the "900" telephone hot-line. "So much of sexual disorders and dysfunction is based on ignorance and lack of education," said Masters, a featured speaker at the American Psychological Assn. annual meeting, which concludes today.

Ray Buckey testified under questioning Thursday about a sexual relationship he had with a woman and contended it demonstrated that he would not have molested children at his family's McMartin Pre-School in Manhattan Beach. Buckey, 31, completing 5 1/2 days of cross-examination that both sides said support their opposing positions, told prosecutor Lael Rubin that he believes it is "common sense" that pedophiles do not have sexual relations with adults. "That's mixing apples and oranges," he said.

Recent news stories have reported that marijuana sparks the sex drive by raising testosterone levels, tranquilizers prolong male "staying power," substances isolated from human sweat enhance sexual desire, room deodorants intensify orgasms, neurotransmitter boosters extend arousal for hours and antidepressants "drive" women to new sexual highs.

Here's a sampling of what University of Chicago Prof. Allan Bloom has to say about rock 'n' roll in his current best-seller, "The Closing of the American Mind." . . . Rock music has one appeal only, a barbaric appeal, to sexual desire--not love, not eros , but sexual desire undeveloped and untutored. . . . Young people know that rock has the beat of sexual intercourse. That is why Ravel's "Bolero" is the one piece of classical music that is commonly known and liked by them.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that there is no such thing as a safe and effective over-the-counter aphrodisiac and proposed a ban on the marketing of non-prescription drugs that claim to arouse sexual desire. The FDA issued a formal notice that it is tentatively adopting the conclusions of an advisory board that has been studying the drugs, a preparatory step to issuing a regulation banning them.