African American Women Living with AIDS: Critical Responses for the New Millennium

April 12, 2010 | By In Health Tips |

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2 Comments so far

  1. Melissa M. Turner on April 12th, 2010

    The book the complex issues impacting HIV and women, articles written by a variety of skilled, knowledgeable experts in the field.
    Rating: 5 / 5

  2. Jeffery Mingo on April 12th, 2010

    The contributors detail the statistics and dynamics of HIV/AIDS among African-American females. They peel the onion here discussing spirituality, counseling, gender dynamics, among other things. They do not treat Black females as a monolithic group; they talk of adults, college students, adolescents, and children. All the contributors are female, and they may even be all African American.

    The editors not only include psychological and sociological studies on the topic, they also have chapters about AIDS activism among Black women. The editors are trying to combine theory and practice, to speak to experts and everyday people. However, the activism chapters are short and scant. Some may feel that it “dumbs down” the book. The chapter on “Africentric” therapy was sappy and unnecessary, by the way.

    Too often, discussions on AIDS in the African-American community either focus on MSM or women, and almost never both simultaneously. If there is not an exclusion, then one group is pitted against the other. In the press and around water coolers, there is all this unnecessary hysteria about “the down low” and how black MSM “are killing” Black women. Activist and sage Keith Boykin has taken J.L. King to task for his complicity in this controversy. Here the authors do not attack MSM, whether out or closeted, gay or bisexual. In “Bisexuality and HIV/AIDS,” Rob Tielman stated that statistically more women contract the virus through male drug users than male bisexuals. This book repeats that same fact and focuses upon women fighting drugs, rather than attacking gay, African-American males. The book goes a step further in its inclusion by also stating that some HIV-positive Black women identify as lesbian and get romantically involved with other women, even though they may have acquired the disease through heterosexual transmission. I appreciate the lack of homophobia from all of the authors.

    As wonderfully detailed as this text is, it may frustrate some. There is no clear plan spelled out here to prevent any HIV infection to Black females. Many authors note that if Black females had more jobs and money, then they would not do things that expose them to HIV. Still, the government has not forked over funds and job opportunities to this group for that reason. Clinton’s annihilation of public aid is an example of this. Some would say that solution is too costly. The authors say that Black females often put themselves in danger just to acquire or keep a Black male partner. Well, what can you do? If a woman is a “slave to love,” then she takes that route. The state or communities can’t prevent that fallacy. The book implies that rap videos teach Black females that cute bodies are more important that strong minds and career goals. This is a powerful point. But who can get the hip-hop industry to change, as much money as it’s making for Black and white males? There are so many nebulous, superstructural ideas here that would be just too difficult to enact, outside of individual, personally-based actions.
    Rating: 3 / 5

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