ngela Dindial
HDFS-2001
04-28-15 Analysis of HIV/AIDS Within heterosexist and homophobic societal contexts, HIV/AIDS is frequently misrepresented as a disease of gay men. In the U.S.A. men who have sex with men are over-represented in the population of people who has HIV/AIDS, labeling the illness as a "gay" one dismisses the reality that HIV transmission globally is uniquely associated with one particular group: human beings; of all sexual orientations.The truth: Before AIDS was well known (1980s generally) gay sex was often unprotected because there was zero risk of pregnancy, therefore the virus spread more through the gay community than the straight. People’s perception of the truth: If it wasn't for gays, AIDS would have never spread
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The film stars Tom Hanks, who plays a dying AIDS victim who is wrongly fired from his job at a prestigious law firm. Springsteen’s song, “The Streets of Phila- delphia,” is a haunting, powerful tune that captures the pain and tragedy of AIDS The film, and the “Streets of Philadelphia,” helped to provide a much-needed and more sympathetic understanding of the AIDS epidemic. Demme also used other music throughout the movie to enhance and imprint its message.The movie Philadelphia was the first mainstream film to deal with the issue of AIDS. Although the filmmakers had to water it down a lot to get the film made. If they showed the true horror of AIDS, nobody would pay to see it. But this song captures the pain, the loss, and the loneliness that was AIDS for those of us who lived through it.Demme wanted people not familiar with AIDS issues to see his film. He felt Springsteen and Young would bring an audience that would not ordinarily see a movie about a gay man dying of AIDS. The movie and the song did a great deal to increase AIDS awareness and take some of the stigma off the disease. It showed the true horror of AIDS, nobody would paid to see it. But this song captured the pain, the lost, and the loneliness that AIDS causes for those who had lived through it. However, the song is very straight forward, You don't have to do a lot of deep thinking to understand the meaning. The lyrics are literal for
In the early 1980’s, reports were appearing in California and New York of a small number of men who appeared to have rare forms of cancer and pneumonia (Blumberg). The men were young and in very good health (Blumberg). These men were alike because they were homosexual (Blumberg). They had a disease known as AIDS, which is caused by HIV (Blumberg). The virus slowly attacks the immune system which makes the human body more prone to infections (Blumberg). They did not know what the disease was for a while (Blumberg). It was believed to be “gay-related” because homosexuals were many of the first reported cases (Blumberg). That belief was abolished when scientist found out that heterosexuals could be infected too (Blumberg).
Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.
The CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 5, 1981 describing cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), accompanied by other unusual infections, in five young, previously healthy, gay men in Los Angeles. By the time the report was published, two of the men had died. This marked the first official reporting of what is now known as the AIDS epidemic. It wasn’t until September 24, 1982, however, when the CDC used the term AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) for the first time. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the story the very next day; just days later, Doctors around the nation swarmed the CDC with reports of similar cases. It wasn’t until November of 1985, after the epidemic had claimed
Mary Fisher delivered her speech “A Whisper of AIDS” on August 19th, 1992 in Houston, Texas. Fisher is the mother of two young children and is an advocate and victim of AIDS and HIV. Fisher delivers this speech in hopes to end the prejudice that surrounds AIDS and HIV. Fisher gives this speech to disprove false stereotypes about victims of HIV and AIDS. Fisher contracted this disease from her second husband proving that AIDS and HIV does not necessarily stem simply from hemophilia, gay people, doing drugs, or from promiscuous activity. Fisher argues that no one is safe from AIDS and HIV and anyone can become victim to this deadly virus.
HIV has many psychological aspects which can impact on the way a patient behaves. Stigma and non-adherence are just two aspects associated with the disease. Many individuals have negative attitudes towards people with HIV and this can result in HIV patients suffering from discrimination. Bad quality healthcare and patients being fearful of seeking treatment are just two of the outcomes of stigma (Mandal, 2013). It has been known for healthcare professionals to withhold treatment, breach confidentiality and isolate HIV patients when not necessary (Engenderhealth, 2004a). Homosexual men have always been at the forefront of HIV stigma and in 1985 Dougal et al conducted a study about homophobia on 128 nurses and physicians. The results showed that ten per cent felt that homosexual men were responsibl...
The stigmatization and discrimination that goes hand and hand with a positive diagnosis of HIV/AIDS is overwhelming. FreeDictonary.com defines discrimination as the “treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice.” In essence, discrimination is about actions and stigma relates to beliefs and attitudes. Both however are built up on negative views of a person just because they are apart of a specific group. All over the world, there are well-documented cases of people living with HIV that are being denied the right to health- care, work, education, and freedom of movement, among others. (UNAIDS 2005) This stigma and discrimination exist globally, although it appears differently...
Despite the movements that gay people have made in order to achieve equal rights, gays all over the world are often remain in alienated position in society. Misconceptions are views or opinions that are based on false accusations and misunderstandings that can cause negative effects to those that are surrounded by them. Misconceptions are powerful misjudgment that can cause even the friendliest of people to shy away from those enclosed by these far-fetched yet believable rumors. Stereotypes are used to categorize groups under the idea that most if not all of them behave, look, or even dress a certain way. Like many groups who have a wide array of stereotypes and misconceptions, one of them happens to be gay men. There 's a large belief that
In 1981 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report first rare cases of what is seemingly pneumonia in young gay men. These cases were then grouped together and the disease known as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) takes its root in American Society. This disease spread quickly and the events following are responses to the spread of the disease in America known as the AIDS Crisis, where the response of both the people and the government would impact and change society and American culture and lead to emergence of a gay identity, persecution and fear of those with the disease, marketing of safe sex, and the deterioration of class barriers.
In the last five years, the number of people living with the HIV/AIDS virus in the United States has skyrocketed to a whopping 1.1 million. This qualifies it as an epidemic. HIV can affect anyone who engages in high risk behaviors such as drug use and unprotected sex. This virus however, disproportionately affects the minority population as compares to the white population. Why are African American and Hispanic men more prone to the virus than other racial groups? Homosexuality, MSM (Men Sleeping with men) and Social Stigmas about homosexuality play a big role in the explanation.
Just as Arthur Miller, the writer of “The Crucible”, said, “Sex,sin, and the devil were early linked” (Miller,1125). During the AIDS hysteria, homosexual intercourse was thought to be the cause of widespread immune deficiency, so the disease was soon labeled “Gay Men’s Health Crisis” (“History of HIV and AIDS”). As time progressed AIDS, it was discovered, could also be spread through heterosexual couples(“History of HIV and AIDS”). This
In San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York a few cases of immune system failure have occurred in homosexual men, which brought attention to the CDC. This disease got a name of “gay cancer” in the homosexual community. A disease that is truly deadly in all aspects was given zero importance from the news media (20:28). Not one TV station has mentioned about this epidemic. Instead of raising awareness, the media completely ignores the whole situation because the media feels there is no story and the only people interested in reading about gay men dying are gay men. The number of cases continues to expand and this disease is now being found in Haitian refugees and 11 newborn babies. It’s no longer a homosexual disease anymore. The response that the gay community gets from the media is that God is punishing them. The homosexual men broke all of the rules and God is judging them
This movie is a wonderful production starting from 1960 and ending in 1969 covering all the different things that occurred during this unbelievable decade. The movie takes place in many different areas starring two main families; a very suburban, white family who were excepting of blacks, and a very positive black family trying to push black rights in Mississippi. The movie portrayed many historical events while also including the families and how the two were intertwined. These families were very different, yet so much alike, they both portrayed what to me the whole ‘message’ of the movie was. Although everyone was so different they all faced such drastic decisions and issues that affected everyone in so many different ways. It wasn’t like one person’s pain was easier to handle than another is that’s like saying Vietnam was harder on those men than on the men that stood for black rights or vice versa, everyone faced these equally hard issues. So it seemed everyone was very emotionally involved. In fact our whole country was very involved in president elections and campaigns against the war, it seemed everyone really cared.
The movie, And the Band Played On, portrays a current issue the U.S. health care system face: the effects of societal perceptions of people who should receive health care support. Those perceived as undeserving are disregarded. Homosexual men were the first to be affected by AIDS in the US, and because of this, the stigma of homosexuality prevented developing health care policy to control the epidemic. Homosexuality was, and to a lesser extent now, not widely accepted. Marginalizing gay individuals was seen in the movie at the beginning, when media coverage on AIDs would not include “homosexual” within the news title (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). This represents how media has to be marketed; the broader public will not be interested if a new disease only affects an undesirable population. Another example of this negligence is seen when Phillip Burton is asked to introduce a bill on AIDS. He agrees, but does not hesitate to retort, “They couldn’t get a dime out of this administration with the name gay on it” (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). Finally, in order to change the perception, at the CDC conference with blood agencies, they renamed gay related immune deficiency (GRID) to AIDS, and the film cuts to news segments finally covering
Moreover, Treichler maintains that although society has become more progressive in its understanding that AIDS is a heterosexual disease just as much as a homosexual one, this advancement does not necessarily disintegrate the “fantasy” surrounding the issue (i.e. ideas about “safer sex”, etc.) Apprehending what one learns from science will obviously be very beneficial to one’s grasping the concept of AIDS in its most basic form, but using this information self-consciously and pragmatically – and knowing that the sometimes contradictory information one takes in might not necessarily be utilizing the correct discourse signifying what AIDS “really” means – will allow one to make sense of the disease as a complete, organized whole.
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.