The critical approach: The history of hiv/aids
The critical approach of anthropology takes a closer look at the dominant form of medicine in Western culture, or biomedicine. The claim of universality, that biomedicine represents a universal truth of nature, and the claim of objectivity, that biomedicine is autonomous from cultural context and human influence, has caused it to gain authority in the western world. The objective of the critical approach is to evaluate these claims and study biomedicine as a culturally constructed system. In recent years, the authority of biomedicine has been increasingly doubted by our society. Although the majority of Americans still view it as the highest authority, many people are seeking alternate treatments for illnesses, and while it isn't common for HIV/AIDS patients, some alternative therapies do exist. The critical approach also studies the history of biomedicine and disease, and the history of HIV/AIDS is extremely interesting.
HIV/AIDS became an epidemic in the United States in 1981, when America became the first country to bring AIDS into the public consciousness after recognizing the illness among a small number of homosexual men. Due to social stigmatization of gay men and the lack of understanding of the disease, AIDS became one of the most feared and controversial diseases in the history of modern medicine.
Back then, being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS meant a death sentence. When HIV first became an epidemic, homosexual men were already extremely stigmatized, and the spread of the disease in the gay community made things worse; AIDS became known as GRID, or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, and the American media perpetuated the widespread fear and panic of the general public against gay men. Many infected people were chastised from society. It wasn’t until an alarming number of reports came in of non-homosexual individuals being diagnosed that the CDC changed the name to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Avert). However, the stereotyping of the disease did not stop there. The disease started to spread among the African American community in 1982, and because the media portrayed AIDS as a white homosexual man’s disease, African American men had little reason to believe they were at risk. AIDS has been associated with a high level of stigma and discrimination from the beginning, because a lack of knowledge of the disease led to it being linked to certain groups that were already negatively stereotyped at the time.
While medicine has advanced tremendously since then and allows people to live relatively normal lives with HIV and somewhat with AIDS, the scare and social stigmatization associated with it still remain to a certain degree. Fortunately, American society has been shifting towards a more open minded and tolerant viewpoint of homosexuality. For example, many politicians and public figures have openly expressed their support of gay marriage, which has decreased the level of stigma towards gay people. In addition to this, an increased knowledge of how the disease is actually acquired has also made HIV/AIDS less scary and less misunderstood. While it is a fact that gay men are the largest group affected in the United States, popular culture has shifted away from portraying the disease as caused by homosexuality. I believe this shows that the value of personal responsibility has increased in our society, as more and more people understand that one can not be predisposed to HIV/AIDS because of their sexual orientation or race, but that it is the behavior of each individual that determines their risk of contracting the disease.
HIV/AIDS became an epidemic in the United States in 1981, when America became the first country to bring AIDS into the public consciousness after recognizing the illness among a small number of homosexual men. Due to social stigmatization of gay men and the lack of understanding of the disease, AIDS became one of the most feared and controversial diseases in the history of modern medicine.
Back then, being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS meant a death sentence. When HIV first became an epidemic, homosexual men were already extremely stigmatized, and the spread of the disease in the gay community made things worse; AIDS became known as GRID, or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, and the American media perpetuated the widespread fear and panic of the general public against gay men. Many infected people were chastised from society. It wasn’t until an alarming number of reports came in of non-homosexual individuals being diagnosed that the CDC changed the name to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Avert). However, the stereotyping of the disease did not stop there. The disease started to spread among the African American community in 1982, and because the media portrayed AIDS as a white homosexual man’s disease, African American men had little reason to believe they were at risk. AIDS has been associated with a high level of stigma and discrimination from the beginning, because a lack of knowledge of the disease led to it being linked to certain groups that were already negatively stereotyped at the time.
While medicine has advanced tremendously since then and allows people to live relatively normal lives with HIV and somewhat with AIDS, the scare and social stigmatization associated with it still remain to a certain degree. Fortunately, American society has been shifting towards a more open minded and tolerant viewpoint of homosexuality. For example, many politicians and public figures have openly expressed their support of gay marriage, which has decreased the level of stigma towards gay people. In addition to this, an increased knowledge of how the disease is actually acquired has also made HIV/AIDS less scary and less misunderstood. While it is a fact that gay men are the largest group affected in the United States, popular culture has shifted away from portraying the disease as caused by homosexuality. I believe this shows that the value of personal responsibility has increased in our society, as more and more people understand that one can not be predisposed to HIV/AIDS because of their sexual orientation or race, but that it is the behavior of each individual that determines their risk of contracting the disease.
The movie Philadelphia portrays the story of a man who gets fired from his law firm because he gets diagnosed with AIDS in the early 1980s. He wants to hire a lawyer to sue the company, but this lawyer is also reluctant to help him due to his condition. Once he is diagnosed, he is discriminated against by everyone in society. This movie is a great portrayal of the stigmatization that people infected with HIV/AIDS faced, and how the disease has had such a controversial history.
Sources:
Comer, Matt. "Filmmaker Wants the World to Know: 'We Were Here'" QNotes. November 26, 2011. Accessed August 12, 2014. http://goqnotes.com/13463/filmmaker-wants-the-world-to-know-we-were-here/.
"History of HIV & AIDS in the U.S." HIV and AIDS Information and Resources. January 1, 2014. Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.avert.org/history-hiv-aids-us.htm.
"Philadelphia (1993) - Movie Trailer." YouTube. Accessed August 12, 2014.
Sources:
Comer, Matt. "Filmmaker Wants the World to Know: 'We Were Here'" QNotes. November 26, 2011. Accessed August 12, 2014. http://goqnotes.com/13463/filmmaker-wants-the-world-to-know-we-were-here/.
"History of HIV & AIDS in the U.S." HIV and AIDS Information and Resources. January 1, 2014. Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.avert.org/history-hiv-aids-us.htm.
"Philadelphia (1993) - Movie Trailer." YouTube. Accessed August 12, 2014.