Forums > Social Discussion > HIV a badge of recognition amongst gay men

Posted: 12th Sep 2003

I laughed even harder when I read she had nothing to back up her claims, other then some interviews that are probably fake.

Posted: 13th Sep 2003
But it said so on the internet. THE INTERNET.

(I sort of hoped this would plummet off the HoP radar, it's yet another oversensationalized exaggerated generalization with no insight and dangerous and offensive implications.)

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]

Posted: 12th Sep 2003

quote:

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Originally posted by NYC:
But it said so on the internet. THE INTERNET.

(I sort of hoped this would plummet off the HoP radar, it's yet another oversensationalized exaggerated generalization with no insight and dangerous and offensive implications.)

---

quite true, this could be very damaging sadly.

_________________________________
Fuzzy Dice.......................................

Posted: 12th Sep 2003
Actually, if you have any gay friends, you should ask them about how they were treated by other gay people when they were young. I have a friend who is a lesbian, and she told me a couple years ago about how she was doubted by other lesbians because of her age. They were afraid she was just experimenting or not sure of her sexuality, and so if they got involved with her, they would get a broken heart. I think there's some fact to this story, but yeah some of it could be exaggerated.

Posted: 12th Sep 2003
I dunno. When I came out, I was received with open arms. Now, whether this is because a number of people had crushes on me is another thing...

Anyways, I think that there is a lot of miseducation about HIV/AIDS. People think that it's this chronically manageable disease. They don't realize that we've only had good antiviral drugs for about 4-5 years only and that the side-effects are pretty horrid. They don't realize the cost and illness that come with being HIV+, even if they don't have AIDS.

Having said that, as a gay man have I ever heard of ANYONE wanting to catch HIV as a "badge of their sexuality?" Nope. Not a one.

Sounds like homophobic smear tactics to me.

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura

Posted: 13th Sep 2003
Indeed it does... and putting a university's name behind it is supposed to add weight to the statement... I can't see Brunel being overly pleased at their name being put to this completely unsupported theory.

The optimist claims that we are living in the best of all possible worlds.
The pessimist fears this is true.

Always make time to play in the snow.

Posted: 13th Sep 2003
She said some gay sex clubs, pubs and saunas had a throughput of up to 500 people a day with some men managing 30 to 40 sexual partners a visit.

firstly..... where do i go to become homosexual and secondly...

where do i go get to these places?

30 - 40???? thats more then all the people i know full stop let alone the poeple i could have sex with......

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
LOL, FunkyM, don't worry they didn't "Know" all those people.

Head in hands so much to learn...

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
well, only in the biblical sense

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
The most disturbing thing I ever heard was a subculture of gay men who deliberately allow themselves to be infected with HIV through unprotected sex with other HIV-positives so remove the 'worry' of being infected and carry on 'barebacking' regardless...



Not sure if they're taking into account the multitude of other STDs they could be exposed to or risk mutating the HIV virus into a far stronger strain...



Even heard of some who would willingly use their own HIV-infected blood as a weapon against anyone who attacks them.



I assume that the deliberate infection of HIV can also akin to a sub-culture taking back certain negative associations as anti-establishment statement distancing itself from the norm. Like black people taking back the N-word or gay people taking back 'Queer'.



'If the facist heterosexual orthidoxy will view me as an AIDS-ridden degenerate, I'll GIVE them an AIDS-ridden degenerate!'

"I used to want to change the world, now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity..." - Lotus Weinstock

Posted: 4th Dec 2006

 Written by: Neon_Shaolin


'If the facist heterosexual orthidoxy will view me as an AIDS-ridden degenerate, I'll GIVE them an AIDS-ridden degenerate!'

nothing like positive thinking!

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
Uh-huh. Do it properly or not at all..

"I used to want to change the world, now I just wanna leave the room with a little dignity..." - Lotus Weinstock

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
Am i the only one who is being prompted for a password and can't view the link?

Helen_of_Poi

EJC Ireland 2006 Organisational Team

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
ho i got pw screen 2

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. ~ Terry pratchett

Posted: 4th Dec 2006

 Written by: Neon_Shaolin


Even heard of some who would willingly use their own HIV-infected blood as a weapon against anyone who attacks them.

I assume that the deliberate infection of HIV can also akin to a sub-culture taking back certain negative associations as anti-establishment statement distancing itself from the norm. Like black people taking back the N-word or gay people taking back 'Queer'.

In the US if you have AIDS and knowingly have sex with someone and not inform them, if they contract AIDS then you can be charged with murder.

A woman several years ago used her infection as a weapon against men, which she was bitter at (evidentally, her cheating husband infected her). It was quite a landmark case...and I agree with the ruling.

I don't think it is a "reclaiming" for gays since the current group which is most at risk is actually young (teen-twenties) urban straight women.

It's "National AIDS Awareness (insert time frame here)" so there have been documentaries everywhere.
The most powerful one was made for MTV by people liveing with AIDS, either themselves or a loved one. THey were given cameras and filmed their own lives.
Some of these people were so young.
One even admitted to having sex with guys after she knew because she was mad.
It was nuts.

Then were the specials about Africa and South America..even worse.

Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK

Posted: 4th Dec 2006
no, you're not the only one helen.

"i am exotic, and must keep my arms down" - Rougie

"i don't understand what penises have to do with getting married" - Foxie

Posted: 5th Dec 2006
OK, I went to Brunel Uni, studied social anthropology and Melissa Parker, who conducted this sexual networking study, was my personal tutor for the last two years of my degree.

I unfortunately can't access the article you're all referring to on Reuters, but I think from your comments that the findings are being totally misrepresented.

The study was conducted over three years, it began at an STI clinic in London and Melissa originally wanted to trace the sexual networks of people with Herpes. As time went on, she found people were more willing to discuss HIV/AIDS than other sexual diseases at the clinic. She began initially by making a handful of contacts with whom she was in regular contact with over an extensive period of time, seeing them at the clinic, thier homes and by socialising with them and their friends.

The study was not conducted exclusively on homosexual men, but all the people that her key contacts (two of whom were homosexual) had been sexually involved with. This eventually included married men, women and prostitutes, people from all walks of life. The interviews were not 'fake' either.

The study is an ethnography, it wasn't trying to 'prove' a hypothesis but was an attempt to search for deeper understanding of why people still engage in risky sexual behaviour when they are aware of the risks involved and how to take precautions, regardless of whether they were gay or straight.

The point about gay men deliberately wanting to get HIV/AIDS was only put forward by one respondent. It was much more complicated than wanting to get rid of the worry so he could carry on being promiscuous, it was about watching his friends becoming infected, going through treatment etc and a whole host of other worries. The man in question was not happy with his life. She never implied that his feelings could be applicable to the whole male population, but that it may be representative of some feelings out there that are experienced by some people, thus perhaps another reason why people don't always take measures to protect themselves.

The main findings of the study were that the health service's way of identifying 'risk groups' of people more likely to get HIV/AIDS (i.e. gay men and injecting herion addicts) is extremely misleading, as the disease itself does not discriminate... there was one case where a woman was infected by her husband, unknowingly, because he had slept with a HIV+ prosititute behind her back. (It was quite scary stuff to study, when you actually see the networks developing as little blobs representing people with different coloured lines drawn between them to indicate types of sexual contact and HIV status, gradually growing from 10 people to 40 people to 150 people who are HIV+).

I've had enough of trying to defend Parker's work, but she is a very good social/medical anthropologist with a lot of experience in the field, looking at cultural issues at home and abroad. If you want to find out more, I suggest you read the actual ethnography ('Stuck in GUM' by Melissa Parker) before reaching conclusions about her objectives or findings. I know her, and she certainly is not homophobic, or operating with any underhanded political agenda.

Idolized by Aurinoko

Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind....

Bob Dylan

Posted: 5th Dec 2006
Not having read the article, I can only imagine it was either a misrepresentation of her findings (The media misrepresenting something?! NO!) or one aspect being focused on to the detriment of others.

Neon, I've heard some stories re: HIV as a weapon which have been either (again) misrepresentations of what some presumably militant campaigners have said, or just lies made up by 'Christian' ministers to scare their congregations. I can't recall any exact quotes or references off the top off my head though.

Eww, Liza Minelli...

The communists gave my mother a job, teaching sculpture to limbless children.

Posted: 5th Dec 2006
Well I cant get into that link its prompting me for a password. But I do know there is a sub culture called (amounsgt other things) 'bug chasers' in the gay community, its common amoungst gay men who look for an (easy) idenatie, and often pulls in young gay men who are suffering conflicting emotions, I will avoid saying 'confused' its a little overused.



That and people with low self asteem and selfworth try to become a part of the community alot of the time, alot of gay man have been questiond about what they do and a large majority of them do it because they want to be close to the people they have sex with and try to get something more out of the experiance, often because in the past they have gone through something painfull, so they seak out something distructive or taboo or dangerouse for the thrill. Which leads them into a cycle that goes around and around.



Then there are the ones who just want to sleep around for 10 years or so and think to hell with the consiquences, I'll get ill when im 30.



So some do wear it as a badge, its one of those things that once you start to annalyse it it just goes on and on and on.



(edited for grammer purposes. hope that was better)
EDITED_BY: Brit_Joe (1165872235)

Chief adviser to the Pharaoh, in one very snazzy mutli-coloured coat

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