Neither a saint nor a whore, just a woman: the feminization of HIV/AIDS and the seropositivity experience

Abstract

This study inquires how socio-historical dimensions of gender and the discursive elements of sexualities correlate with the experiences of HIV-positive women. This is a field research with a qualitative approach in which ten HIV-positive women were interviewed individually. The diagnosis of these women points to the fragility of the conjugal relationship, reveals the myth of idealized love and emphasizes the relation of inequality established between the genders. It is concluded that women as a social group, due to gender inequity, are still more vulnerable socially to the epidemic.