Micollier, Evelyne
(2012)
Sexualised Illness And Gendered Narratives:
The Problematic Of Social Science And
Humanities In China's Hiv And
Aids Governance.
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 8 (1).
pp. 104-124.
ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243
Abstract
In China, the general understanding of HIV/AIDS and awareness of HIV risks has
been shaped by a 1990s construction of a disease as one affecting minority groups
such as drug users, gay men and prostitutes, rather than a disease contracted
through high-risk behaviors, a factor that may explain a still rather low
awareness of HIV risks. Gender norms and roles put both men and women at risk
with regards to sexual activity even though not at the same level: while men
engaging in high-risk behaviors can negotiate and exercise control of sexual
activities as a way of constructing masculinity, such a process has seriously
limited women's capacity to exercise control over their bodies due to their lack of
power and ability to negotiate with sexual partners. This situation highlights the
need for gendered empowerment and reinforces a globally assessed gendered
vulnerability to HIV infection with women being most at risk. Hence,
understanding the sexual transmission in the larger context of sexualised disease
and gendered narratives may contribute to reframing these narratives. This calls
for a social sciences and humanities approach to documenting and reframing the
sexualised HIV and AIDS narratives in order to produce more adequate social
and health responses and to reduce HIV and AIDS related stigma and
discrimination against sexualised minorities. This article discusses the increasing
prevalence of sex-related HIV and AIDS infections and cases, and hence the
changing dynamic in China's HIV and AIDS epidemic. It analyses key issues
related to sex and gender in China's HIV and AIDS governance. Finally it calls
for a gendered and social science approach to China's HIV and AIDS governance
as a way to escape the quagmire of tackling the epidemic as sexualised epidemic.
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