“THE plague of our times,” a character declares in “Hysteria,” Tanya Wexler’s new romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England, “stems from an overactive uterus.” Based loosely on real events and opening on Friday, the film stars Hugh Dancy as Mortimer, a charming, forward-thinking doctor, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Charlotte, a champion of women’s rights.

Though its period detail and depiction of naïve men trying to “cure” hysterical women through pelvic massage seems hilariously out of date, there are moments when issues of women’s rights raised (lightly) in the film feel surprisingly relevant. But more than anything, “Hysteria” serves as a reminder that female sexuality is still an unusual subject on screen.

There are signs, however, that this may be changing. “Girls” on HBO has attracted attention for its frank depiction of sex, and Lena Dunham’s role as a show runner gives her rare authority to depict sexuality from a woman’s perspective. It’s a role that’s equally rare in film: female directors accounted for just 5 percent of the top-grossing domestic movies last year, a report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film found.

New and recent films by Ms. Wexler, Sarah Polley (“Take This Waltz”), Malgorzata Szumowska (“Elles”), Julie Delpy (“2 Days in New York”) and several others challenge this norm and give audiences the chance to see how women deal with issues of female sexuality, whether it’s orgasms or body image.