Nh350 Week 4 Analysis

On August 19, 1992, a woman named Mary Fisher spoke on a rather sensitive topic in an attempt to change the world. In an address to the Republican National Convention, Fisher lectured on a subject close to her heart, HIV and AIDS. Mary Fisher is an artist, author, and of course political activist. She contracted HIV from her second husband and has since been on a mission to educate people about prevention of the disease and the treatment of people that have HIV or AIDS. Fisher was speaking at the convention in Houston, Texas in an attempt to get people to take action. Fisher wanted people to be informed about the diseases and have a genuine care about those infected. I found her speech exceedingly compelling as well as an exceptional display

As time passed, European domination drastically altered the African landscape – both physically and culturally. Traditional roles, practices, and beliefs were either completely subverted or modified to fall in line with European cultural ideals. Doubtlessly, this process of subjugation worked to the detriment of native populations throughout the continent. Even though all members of indigenous communities have suffered under this system, African women remain especially vulnerable to its harmful effects. As Mary Kolawole points out in her comprehensive work, Womanism and African Consciousness, these women must confront a set of oppressions unique to their position as both black Africans and women. During her discussion of African women’s current struggle for recognition, Kolawole argues that, although colonialism displaced many African traditions, the patriarchal social structure remained. In many ways, she holds, European colonization widened the rift between African men and women even further (Kolawole 34). Although African and European traditions share in the elevation of the male over the female, most African cultures offered women a greater position of respect within society, as well as more “positive avenues of self-liberation” than were available to European women

In the beginning of her speech, Fisher includes details and anecdotes that appeal to pathos and help persuade the audience emotionally. The topic of AIDS and HIV has a negative and almost shameful connotation surrounding it, so to combat this and

HIV/AIDS has been responsible for one of the worst epidemics in history. In her book “The Invisible Cure” Helen Epstein details why Africa in particular was so devastated by the disease, which countries failed and which succeeded in the struggle to contain the virus, and why this happened. Epstein highlights a particular phenomenon, that first took place in Uganda, but which can be translated to many countries and situations, and which she calls “the invisible cure.”

Islamic, Jewish, West African, the Aborigines of Australia and many other religions and cultures use circumcision as a rite of passage that holds significant meaning. Most preform the act in infancy or early childhood and while some hold it as optional others see it as obligatory and will even make sure to circumcise their deceased before burial. (Darby) In Kenya, boys will wear the razor blade that was used on them around their necks as a sign of “initiation into manhood” (Morris) Some religions, such as Catholicism, have maintained that the act of circumcision is brutal, barbaric and unnecessary.(Wikipedia 1)

The film describing an ordinary woman Noerine Kaleeba devoting herself fighting social stigma around AIDS in Uganda is a powerful scene. Her personal account of seeing her husband dying from AIDS propelled her to fly to Geneva to meet with Jonathan Mann, the leading researcher in the global AIDS program. When she arrived at the WHO building, she was rejected to meet with Mann. However, her emotional response caught Mann’s attention and when she sat down with Mann, he told her that her husband is going to die. But Mann asked Kaleeba “there is a prejudice that is attached to this disease that we have to fight, and will you help me fight it?” Kaleeba later became the co-founder of the AIDS activism group “The AIDS Support Organization,” a group that provides care, support and counselling as well as community education for prevention in Uganda. In this scene, Jonathan Mann recognized an important social factor of the disease which is that AIDS is attached to a serious stigma and discrimination. Due to the fact that there is

When the AIDS and HIV virus crept its way into the human-race, it quickly, and without warning, claimed the lives of millions. Then when its destructive wake had finally been abated, it left behind several untold mysteries. Throughout the course of this class, all the new material we have been exposed to has added some unique piece to the puzzle of the AIDS epidemic. Each puzzle pieces have ranged from speculations on how the AIDS epidemic had begun, to what exactly has the epidemic done. We have also tackled the question and how it forced a change in society. Our newest piece of the puzzle is the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” by William Cran. Although this documentary did not surprise me in its content, it did, however, affirm certain types

The use of slavery throughout history has been used to systemically oppress both genders by denying them their human rights and subjecting them to a life of servitude as a piece of someone else’s property. Even though both sexes experienced the mistreatment and cruelty of slavery, a women fate's in the slave system can be deemed far worse than a man’s. Areas in history such as Sub-Saharan Africa, North America and the Caribbean are a few instances where this oppressive system to control women as commodities can be seen. Sexism and gender roles enforced by both men and women under the institution of slavery was used to oppress women on a socio-economic, and inhumane level.

In “Heterosexualism and the Colonial/ Modern Gender System,” Maria Lugones offers the idea that gender targets women of color. Lugones brings up the research of Oyeronke Oyewumi, who looked into how gender affected the structure of the Yoruba people, especially since gender was not a concept that was originally part of their culture. Once the idea of “women,” was implemented into the community through colonization, women were identified in contrast to men who were then considered the “norm.” (Lugones). If the women did not have a penis, they were reduced as women, beneath men and they no longer had any power in their communities. The Yoruba men accepted this idea and then collaborated with colonists to further oppress women (Lugones). Paula

HIV is the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, commonly known as AIDS. HIV/AIDS has become one of the most destructive global pandemics in history. In 1990, the World Health Organization estimated that over one million people were living with AIDS, and in less than ten years, HIV had exploded worldwide (Perlin & Cohen). Johanna Tayloe Crane, a medical anthropologist, dedicated her career to studying the way political and economic inequalities influence how HIV/AIDS is researched and treated for in Africa. Crane complied over ten years of ethnographic research to study a HIV research partnership between a US university and Ugandan universities and clinics. Her book, Scrambling for Africa: AIDS, Expertise, and the Rise of American Global Health Science, unpacks both the American and Ugandan researcher’s and clinicians’ perspectives about the research partnership and critiques the U.S. response to the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Her findings reveal the paradox of health institutions and their global health research partnerships benefit from the inequalities they are trying to readdress. These global, economic, and scientific inequalities have allowed Global Health Science research partnerships to establish their own authority over Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The view of female circumcision to a functionalist would center on the thought that it keeps young girls virgins and wives faithful to their husbands. A propose for this is that it lessens the women’s sexual desire. What thy leave out is that many women find sex painful because of their circumcision. They also lave out the tools they use aren’t clean, and you rub dirt in it to heal you get nothing for the pain, and it can easily become infected. It keeps stability in the tribes so the women only reproduce with the men in their tribe, and it helps to minimize the spreading of sexual decease. What they leave out of the article is you are required to marry in your tribe or be considered an outcast, and your circumcision just enforces that their

Disempowerment of Men in Rural and Urban East Africa: Implications for Male Identity and Sexual Behaviour written by Margrethe Silberschmidt brought attention to the consequences socioeconomic changes had on particularly male identity. Through the various areas of research in Eastern Africa, Silberschmidt identified similar situations within Kenya and Tanzania. Prior to the infestation of colonial power in Eastern Africa, they acquired organized systems of labour, gender roles, and economy. Following the subjugation of colonial power, all traditional and cultural systems distorted, negatively impacting the identity of the man. Men became migrant workers leaving their wives and children for a wage that was not sufficient to support their families.

In Transnational Cycles of Gendered Vulnerability: Theory of Global Gender, Alison Jaggar argues that across the globe, women are entrapped in cycles of poverty, abuse, and disenfranchisement of multiple varieties. Part of her argument emphasizes women 's lack of education, which contributes to their inability to find work, escape abusive relationships etc. While I agree that women worldwide are continuous victims of vicious patriarchal oppression and subjection, and that said despotism should be viewed as a universal injustice, Jaggar’s particular view of the role of education, race, socioeconomic status and sexuality is fallacious. Her criticism of Susan Moller Okin’s theory of gendered vulnerability relies heavily on her perceived privilege of the “traditional woman” in the United States that Okin was describing; White, upper class, and heterosexual. In doing this, Jaggar subsequently downplays the education levels and accomplishments of minority women, portraying their setbacks as correlated to race, or class, instead of gender. Additionally, she dismisses the subjective plights of white, straight, rich women, implying that they are not included in the realm of oppression and subjection to patriarchy because of the advantages they have in other spheres. This leads to a cycle that discredits and stigmatizes most women. I will be arguing that even though privilege in other spheres appears to transpire into an advantage in the sexual sphere, to use this as the basis of a

The western world has a very bad wrap when it comes to looking at foreign practices objectively; so it’s really up for debate whether or not female genital mutilation is a morally sound practice. Afterall, why does anyone in America have the right to judge this practice or to intervene, especially with the presence of male circumcision in our own culture? The means by which they received these circumcisions however, are totally different than a third world countries female genital circumcision procedure. Male circumcision is largely done in a clean, organized and safe environment while female circumcision is done mostly in third world countries without the capability/tools necessary to create such an environment. There are three basic types of genital circumcision that vary widely depending on the reliability of whoever performs the surgery. The

Women made vulnerable by poverty are most susceptible to the sex industry because they lack the resources, the education, and the economic alternatives to pursue other work possibilities. The lack of education diminishes women’s potential to gain paid employment, and desperately consent to prostitution as their survival strategy.