What is women’s health? Depending on what app, website, or newsletters you follow, the answer may take on a different focus. This could include focusing on women-specific health topics, a more beauty/fitness approach (think, “Best core workouts to be beach-ready this summer!”), or, in the case of the Rosy app, sexual wellbeing.
What is “Rosy?”
Rosy is an app centered on providing “evidence-based education, comprehensive resources, and personalized behavioral change solutions” to women in a format that is easy-to-use. The fully-virtual format allows users to look for answers they may be embarrassed to ask an OB/GYN about in-person. The app offers educational articles and videos, a community forum, and live webinars. While the app is free, many of their services require a paid subscription, with three different price tiers.
Great things about Rosy
My favorite thing about Rosy is the holistic approach to wellness. Rather than focus exclusively on physical health problems, the app is designed to address mental and emotional health as well. There are exercise videos, articles on mental health and managing stress, and community forums on various topics. You can also take a wellness quiz to create a more personalized experience with a daily “check-in” question and relevant video.
The drawbacks
The landing page for Rosy proclaims “This is it. The all-inclusive women’s health app you’ve been waiting for.” And, well… I think I’m still waiting. The app has a very strong focus on sex that seems to co-opt all the other topics despite advertising “evidence-based guidance on common concerns like menopause, migraines, low desire, endometriosis, and more”. Click on “stress” and you’ll find “Stress & Libido.” Click on “cancer” and the first article is “Cancer & Sexual Health.” And when you click on “pregnancy”, the first article is… “Pregnancy & Sex.” There are a handful of articles and videos that are not about sex, but the articles and videos are all uncomfortably referred to as “quickies,” and even the thumbnails on some non-sex articles are a bit NSFW.
I also expected a women’s health app to include information on fertility, but I didn’t even come across information on birth control or contraception, let alone fertility awareness. And when I say the app is very centered on sex, I mean that almost literally: the center tab on the app is titled “erotica.”
My biggest concern with the Rosy app
In fact, for me, the erotica section is the biggest turn-off (pun intended). Even if I was interested in getting a membership to be able to access all of the “quickies” (health videos and articles), I wouldn’t feel comfortable also putting “150+ sexy stories” on my phone. The reason erotica stars centerstage on this health app is that it’s marketed as the solution to “struggling with low libido.”
If I was talking to a woman who considered low sexual desire to be an issue in her life, I would have a few questions to ask to better understand where she’s coming from. Do her circumstances allow for the level of relaxation and connection to be up for sex, or are there other life issues that need to be addressed? How does she view sex in general? How would she rate her level of trust and friendship with her spouse at this time in her life? Are there things that make it easier to be interested in sex? (If a person needs time to relax, then time to connect with her spouse, and ample foreplay to even consider sex… that’s totally normal!). And, importantly, what’s the “why” behind this? What would having more sex mean for her in her relationship?
Erotica isn’t the answer to low libido, but Rosy thinks it is
For many people, the “why” is more connection with their partner, something that Rosy’s emphasis on solo-play (read: masturbation) really misses the mark on. While scrolling through the community forum on sex, I found a consistent theme in the posts:
“I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to talk about sex…”
“How do I start this [conversation about sex] in a constructive way…?”
“[Feeling broken due to low sex drive during a stressful season of life]… I don’t know how to talk to him about it”
“How do you tell your partner that you feel they prioritize their pleasure over yours?”
“… my goodness, I had no idea how bad I was at communicating!”
“I feel so detached from him these days; it makes me sad”
“I am having a hard time talking about it.”
“How can I get him to communicate with me better?”
“… sex is good overall but I am trying to figure out how to express that I want to explore more with him.”
What does it take to have a great sex life?
Clearly, people want to cultivate a good sexual relationship, not just have more sexual desire in and of itself. Oftentimes, cultivating a good sex life takes a lot of work and may involve improving mental health, improving your relationship with your spouse, managing stress, addressing negative views about sex and/or yourself, improving overall health, pelvic floor therapy, or all-the-above! I was disappointed to see Rosy present erotica as a “quick fix” for low desire and arousal, especially since erotica is something that could bring conflict or harm to a relationship.
Should you download the Rosy app?
Again, there are things I like about the Rosy app. I like that they have articles on issues on helpful interventions like pelvic floor therapy. I also like that their wellness plan includes cognitive behavioral therapy-based prompts to help users become more aware of their thoughts and emotions. The accessibility of health information is another strong point.
However, there are other ways to access high-quality information about women’s health (I mean, not to brag, but definitely check out the different topics we have here at Natural Womanhood!) without having it side-by-side with explicit sexual content. And while it can be difficult for an app to focus on many different things, I do wish they presented themselves as simply a sexual health app rather than “the all-inclusive women’s health app.” Women are much more than just their sex lives. Every woman can greatly benefit from opportunities to gain a more in-depth understanding of women’s health, especially to learn about her fertility and the different hormones that impact overall health in so many different ways. Because Rosy doesn’t deliver these things, I’d pass–and suggest you consider doing the same.
Additional resources:
NW Podcast S3 Ep3: Why is talking about NFP (and sex) so difficult?
NW Podcast S2 Ep. 6: Where We Talk About Porn
What is hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) and how do you know you have it?
What’s the difference between FSD and HSDD?
