AIDS - Women Die Sooner than Men :: Science Health Diseases Essays

aid - Women Die Sooner than MenGiven the vary types of gender-specific opportunistic diseases associated with AIDS such as cervical cancer, in that location is reason to believe that the biological progression of HIV/AIDS is different in women and men. Still, there is no conclusive evidence in support of the hypothesis that the progression of HIV/AIDS is more accelerated in women than it is in men. Regardless, the fact that women septic with HIV/AIDS become sicker faster and die sooner than men can be entirely attributable to social factors that do not figure on the scientific details of the HIV virus. Two social factors primarily responsible for the rapid demise of HIV-positive women in the United States are the mis- and under-representation of women in the interior(a) AIDS discourse and the disproportionate number of woman living in poverty.From the moment AIDS first appeared in the United States as Gay-Related Immuno Deficiency, women (among others) were leftover out the na tional AIDS dialogue. Even though the first case of HIV/AIDS infection in an Afro-American woman was reported in 1982 (Goldstein 114), the general public believed for the most part of the 1980s that women would remain unaffected by the epidemic. Since then, women have been slowly incorporated into the national AIDS debate, albeit in a very limited and qualified manner. In her essay, Seeing AIDS Race, Gender, and Representation, Evelynn Hammonds recognizes an array of contemporary AIDS narratives depicting different female stereotypes, but contends that the majority of African-American women are not identifying with these narratives. In a study on commercial street sex workers, Kim Blankenship shows how such non-identification with an at-risk commonwealth can lead to a bastard sense of security while engaging in risky behaviors and can ultimately lead to a late diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. This is particularly knobbed for African-Americans, who will account for 64% of new infections am ong women in the year 2002 according to the Center for Disease Control but do not see themselves as being affected by the epidemic. Consequently, African-Americans women will be diagnosed later in the progression of HIV/AIDS than men, the vast majority of whom identify themselves either with the at-risk population of men who have sex with men or with that of intravenous drug users (IDU). These women will therefore become sicker faster and die sooner.Another mis-representation of women in the AIDS epidemic that contributes to the speedy progression of HIV/AIDS in females is the characterization of women as vectors of transmission.