Delius Peter, Glaser Clive
Afr J AIDS Res. 2005 May;4(1):29-36. doi: 10.2989/16085900509490339.
This paper attempts to analyse historically why stigma and denial around HIV/AIDS is so powerful in South Africa, so powerful that ailing family members can be shunned and evicted. For many observers, the answer lies simply in its being a venereal disease, in its connotation with promiscuity and unregulated sexuality. We argue that this is not an adequate explanation. Pre-colonial African societies were relatively open about sexuality. Though pre-marital and adulterous pregnancy certainly caused social disruption, extra-marital sex per se was not stigmatised. Even the sexual shame introduced (unevenly) by Christianity and its hybridised forms is inadequate in explaining the degree of stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. We extend the discussion by exploring the stigma associated with various forms of pollution and the inevitability of death. The peculiarly interwoven mixture of sexual transgression, pollution and delayed death, we argue, makes HIV/AIDS an extraordinarily powerful generator of stigma.
本文试图从历史角度分析为何在南非，围绕艾滋病毒/艾滋病的污名化和否认现象如此严重，严重到患病的家庭成员会被回避和驱逐。对许多观察家来说，答案很简单，就是因为它是一种性病，与滥交和无节制的性行为有关。我们认为这并不是一个充分的解释。殖民前的非洲社会对性相对开放。虽然婚前和通奸怀孕肯定会引起社会混乱，但婚外性行为本身并没有受到污名化。即使是基督教及其混合形式（不均衡地）带来的性羞耻，也不足以解释与艾滋病毒/艾滋病相关的污名化程度。我们通过探讨与各种形式的污染以及死亡必然性相关的污名来扩展讨论。我们认为，性越轨、污染和延迟死亡这种独特的交织混合，使得艾滋病毒/艾滋病成为污名的一个极其强大的源头。
