World AIDS Day
So… it’s World AIDS Day. And I have yet to post about it. I’ve been thinking about what I think about AIDS, about sex education, about prejudices surrounding AIDS, and what it all means to me. I haven’t come to any new conclusions, but thinking’s always good, right?
I don’t know anyone that has died of AIDS. I don’t know anyone that is (openly) HIV+ or has AIDS. I’ve never been at risk, having never had a blood transfusion or sex. AIDS itself is not something I think about frequently. I do think about sex education issues, given my own experiences and what I hear about various stances concerning the issue. I remember sitting in middle school and listening to some burly coach hem and haw for a few minutes on Sex-Ed Day with nothing intelligable coming out of his mouth, then finally saying, “Just don’t do it.” Sex education was left to my parents, who assumed I had learned it in school or elsewhere (which, by then I mostly had) and didn’t really tell me anything unless some odd occasion left me with a question none of my peers could answer. Sex education came from television and getting the guts to ask my peers really, really weird questions, all while trying not to seem too ignorant. Surely I’m not the only one with this dilemma.
I am concerned with the message by some religious parties that abstinence is the only choice, and that people shouldn’t be educated about sex because they shouldn’t be doing it. Putting questions of breeding ignorance aside (no pun intended), is factually educating people about sex and preventative methods the same as tell them to go out and have mad, passionate, monkey-sex with as many people as possible? Or is it factually educating people about sex and preventative methods and leaving the moral questions of “should” (not to mention the lifestyle questions of “will”) to them? It probably seems different from the other perspective…
I also think about prejudices concerning AIDS, as those are ideas I find myself hearing entirely too often: “AIDS is God’s punishment for the sin of homosexuality [or promiscuity]” or that, in general, it’s a “gay disease”. I can’t even address the first one, as it’s a moral stance I can’t even argue successfully with; I halt at the word god and question the Christian definition of such a being. But the idea that it’s a gay disease is something that so many seem to still believe, no matter the number of straight people that have AIDS. These are the same people that will sit and tell you that, “Uh-huh, I know I could get the disease if I’m not careful,” but that you later hear make snide remarks that there’s no way they could get that “fag’s disease”. How do you combat that type of ignorance? They have most likely spent their entire lives indoctrinated with that type of prejudice, despite the truthful information they have come across. Of course, it never hurts to try to combat it anyway, but I wonder (in, I suppose, my typical cynical way) whether anyone who has taken advantage of the wealth of information available about AIDS (particularly today) has changed their opinion from one of bigotry to… well, to anything else.
(Not terribly insightful, I know. Perhaps I should have just kept my mouth shut hands still. But if you want good reading, visit Karsh and follow his series and his links. I also found Aaron’s post about the responses to a poster titled “Kissing Doesn’t Kill. Greed and Indifference Do” interesting. Of course, thebrotherlove made me want to cry. I, for one, am glad he’s alive [and sorry his friends aren’t], and I don’t even know him. Not that that’s a condition for giving a damn about someone’s well-being or anything, it’s just… well, nevermind.)
9 Comments
karsh
***But the idea that it’s a gay disease is something that so many seem to still believe, no matter the number of straight people that have AIDS. These are the same people that will sit and tell you that, “Uh-huh, I know I could get the disease if I’m not careful,” but that you later hear make snide remarks that there’s no way they could get that “fag’s disease”. How do you combat that type of ignorance?***
We combat it by having open dialogue like this. Kudos to you, and thanks for sharing your opinion. [:)]
Lissa
Yeah, but…
…if you’re already got a rather bigotted opinion on the issue, are you even going to bother to look up information that may change your viewpoint? [:|]
Rackrent
I just finished watching a movie about AIDS or “living with HIV”, called “One Week”, as a part of the AIDS week at CH. Too bad not many people showed up for the movie[:(]. The movie really didn’t teach me any factual info about AIDS since it was a personal look at the weeklong wait to get the HIV test result. I think that it is too unreliable to give the role of sex ed to schools. Parents should not assume anything about the education of their children. But yeah, it is still good for the AIDS cause overall that people are talking about it and campus organizations are raising awareness.
“Sex education came from television and getting the guts to ask my peers really, really weird questions, all while trying not to seem too ignorant. Surely I’m not the only one with this dilemma.” No Lissa, you’re DEFINITELY not the only one having the dilemma. I had the boldness to ask “what’s a faggot?” during OCRCC training today. Yeah, you know how ignorant I am about these things.
Lissa
Rackrent,
Oh, dear. “‘What’s a faggot?'” Did you get killed? Laughed at?
I totally hear on you on the school education issue, though. It just doesn’t get done properly.
P.S. – I’m glad you found my commenting feature, “Rackrent”. [:D]
Rackrent
I didn’t get killed but one person did give me a look and everyone later asked me “where are you from?” [:o]
Lissa
Tsk, tsk
This is precisely why you need to e-mail me or El Gran “Llama” ([|D]) when you have these questions. Fewer prolems all around. Ouch.
Hannah
Or Me?
And of course, “Rackrent”, if you’re not too sure you could always ask me [;)]. That way, you don’t have to upset your new peers who don’t know you as well as I do…
Dess
**I don’t know anyone that has died of AIDS. I don’t know anyone that is (openly) HIV+ or has AIDS. I’ve never been at risk, having never had a blood transfusion or sex. **
I thought that too, until I mentioned something about AIDS Day stuff to my mom back in HS, and she told me that she lost a boyfriend to AIDS (a post-my-dad bf), and that I have a great-uncle who died of AIDS just a few years ago. I knew this guy, and it was a real wake-up call.
I have to agree with you that things like this need to be talked about more. I was lucky, my mom was really open, and always told me more stuff than I ever wanted to know, but it’s served me well now that I’m in college. So, feel free to always ask me stuff, I’ll never ever make fun of your ignorance. I’ll just do my best to cure it [:D]
Oh, random p.s., did you go to Rose’s World AIDS Day thingy? I put it on, and I can’t remember if you were there.
~Dess
Lissa
Dess–Hearing about family and friends of family having AIDS and you not even knowing about it must have been a shocker. Wow.
I didn’t even hear about a World AIDS Day thing!!! Was this sent out in an all_campus email? [8)] See, now I’m mad as hell. How was the turnout, and what did you guys do?