1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: Are you looking for brand new episodes of a short 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works podcast that explains the everyday world around us, 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: then check out brain Stuff with me Christian Sager. New 4 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: episodes hit every Monday and Wednesday on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, 5 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Welcome to stuff 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: Mom Never told you from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Kristen and I'm Caroline. 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: And this episode on women and HIV and AIDS goes 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: out to Brent. Let up, Brent. Brent has been requesting 10 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,279 Speaker 1: this topic for so long. He has emailed us, he 11 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: has facebooked us, and Brent, we have listened and we 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: have research and we're so glad that you were so 13 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: persistent in asking us to talk about this issue because 14 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: it is very true. Then when it comes to HIV, 15 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: women are often a footnote. Yeah, um, and Caroline, can 16 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: we start things off on a on a pop culture note, 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: which as always yes please Okay. So, as I was 18 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: reading about these, uh, these issues and thinking about the 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: stigma surrounding HIV and just STDs in general, Um, it 20 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,680 Speaker 1: reminded me of an episode of Sex in the City 21 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: and it's the episode titled Running with Scissors, and I 22 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: know that because yes, I have seen sex in the 23 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: City a zillion times. And it's the one where Samantha 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: meets her alleged like sexual match, Tom Raymie, and so 25 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: he also, you know, has had a bazilion sexual partners, 26 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: but before they can have sex, he's like, Samantha, you 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: have to get tested because I have to know that 28 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: it's safe. And Samantha is like, oh, Tom, that's so terrifying. 29 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: And there's this scene of Samantha getting her HIV test results, 30 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: and on the one hand, it's kind of comical because 31 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: you know, there there's the thing where the nurse asks 32 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,239 Speaker 1: her like how many sexual partners have you had? And 33 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: Samanth is like, I can't even count that high. But 34 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: then there's the waiting period when it's like, if this 35 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: happens to Samantha, this is the worst possible thing that 36 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: could ever happen to her. This means that she is 37 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: like sexually off the market. She is a marked woman. 38 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: And to me, that's just one glaring example of the 39 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: remaining stigma and misinformation around HIV, not the need to 40 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: get std and HIV tested, but around the fallout from that. 41 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: Sure well, I mean, it is scary and and and 42 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: it made me think of reality Bites to nine Garofoli's 43 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: character who also has had multiple sexual partners and keeps 44 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: a little black book listing all the names of the 45 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: and she's had sex with. And she finally goes and 46 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: gets tested at a clinic and it's it's really emotional 47 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: and and watching her, you know, be so afraid in 48 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: the waiting room, feeling like, oh my god, you know, 49 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: my life could fall apart at any moment. I you know, 50 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:23,399 Speaker 1: my lifestyle has been uh, you know, a terrible thing 51 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: leading me to this terrible point. And it is really emotional, 52 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: and I mean I I I think it appropriately highlights 53 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: the importance of getting tested. But similarly, it does depict 54 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: HIV and AIDS as the worst possible death sentence that 55 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: one could receive well and the shame surrounding it too. 56 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: And I wonder if the effect of those kinds of 57 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: portrayals is to encourage other people like, you know what, 58 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: I need to go out and I need to get 59 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: tested as well, or if it's like I don't want 60 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: to experience that that is terrifying. I'm just not going 61 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: to do it and pretend that everything's totally vol Well, 62 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: I mean they could also be products of their time. 63 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: I mean reality bites came out in what so that's 64 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: not at the start of the AIDS crisis, which emerged 65 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: in the very early eighties. That would be more in 66 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: the era. If you're looking at the different periods of 67 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: time in people learning about and dealing with AIDS and HIV, 68 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: would be right around the time that people start really 69 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: talking about it and advocating for the health and safety 70 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: of really everyone and to try to get more attention 71 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: to possible treatments. And it is good that there were 72 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: portrayals of women going to get tested because, like we said, 73 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: in the US, HIV and AIDS have long been portrayed 74 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 1: as health issues pretty much exclusive to white gay men, 75 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: but in fact, HIV positive people around the world are women. 76 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: And because we keep saying HIV slash AIDS, let's also 77 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,559 Speaker 1: take a moment to explain exactly what these two things 78 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: are and differentiate between the two. Well, first of all, 79 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: your symptoms can differ both from person to person and 80 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: gender to gender. Uh so that's worth noting. And yes, 81 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: you can be asymptomatic. So what happens when the HIV 82 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: virus enters the bloodstream, so your immune system gets to 83 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: work producing HIV antibodies, and then within the first forty 84 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: five days that process is referred to as saroh conversion. 85 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: And after the antibodies get to work, you actually feel better. 86 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: I mean you can feel better for up to like 87 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: ten years, feel better because keep in mind this can 88 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: also be asymptomatic. But all the while, kind of the 89 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,600 Speaker 1: way that you get chickenpox that can hang around and 90 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: later turn into shingles, the HIV virus is actually replicating 91 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: and slowly destroying your immune system because what it does 92 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: is actually integrate into infected cells genomes. And because immune 93 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: systems then become so weakend because of HIV, we're far 94 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: more susceptible to bacterial infections and fungal diseases that your 95 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: body could normally fight. These are called opportunistic infections. So 96 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: when that happens, when your immune system essentially collapses, that 97 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: is when HIV transitions to being labeled as AIDS. And 98 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: because in the United States, the AIDS crisis predominantly affected 99 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: gay mail communities, and because of the extreme homophobia at 100 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 1: the time, AIDS was very much stigmatized and its patients 101 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: were dehumanized because already because due to the homophobia, these 102 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: gay men had been dehumanized and stigmatized just on their own. 103 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: So Ashley Fetters over the at The Atlantic traced how 104 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: our perceptions and portrayals of HIV and AIDS as developed 105 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: through pop culture, because pop culture has been used to 106 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: destigmatize and humanize illnesses, although when it comes to AIDS 107 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: it's also been highly gendered. So if we go back 108 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: to like the nineteenth century, you have authors like Charles 109 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: Dickens and Victor Hugo who actually humanized tuberculosis patients who 110 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: otherwise we're just seen as this, you know, horrible group 111 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: of people that you should just stay away from because 112 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: they're contagious and you'll die. And Fetters points out that 113 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: Mark Twain and Harriet Beaster so did similar things in 114 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: terms of humanizing people of color and drawing attention to 115 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: racism and slavery. So pop culture has done that also 116 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,679 Speaker 1: over time with HIV and AIDS. Yeah, and so when 117 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: in one the AIDS virus first starts to gain widespread attention, 118 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: there's a lot of confusion at first as to what 119 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: it is. A New York Times article, for instance, was 120 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: headlined rare cancer seen in forty one homosexuals. They called 121 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: it composes sarcoma, and CDC spokesman Dr James Current said, 122 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: the best evidence against contagion is that no cases have 123 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: been reported to date outside the homosexual community or in women. 124 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: So right off the bat, we have health professionals establishing 125 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: that this is a gay man thing. Well, and then 126 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: that also, of course fuels more conservative bigotry, saying like, oh, 127 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: here's proof that being gay is such a sin, because 128 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: now there's actually being smited for that. Yeah, and writing 129 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: about this crisis which left behind so many friends, family members, 130 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: and particular romantic partners. Um, it was interesting to see 131 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: the way that the media started to cover those partners 132 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: who were left behind. For instance, the New York Times 133 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,839 Speaker 1: would also refer to gay men who survived their partners 134 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: as longtime companions. Rather than dignifying them as saying boyfriend 135 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: or partner or anything like that, they opted to go 136 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: the longtime companion route very euphemistically, to the point where 137 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: there was even a movie made in the eighties called 138 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: Longtime Companion about a couple dealing with this issue. So 139 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: it was first reported, like you said, in one and 140 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: by the time we get to nineteen nine one, the 141 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: year that Magic Johnson Um came out publicly as being 142 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: HIV positive, which I still remember seeing that press conference 143 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 1: that happened that year. Anita Hill happened that year was 144 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: a doozy UM. But by the end of that year, 145 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: in the US alone, there had been over two hundred 146 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: and six thousand cases of AIDS reported to date, and 147 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: of those one hundred fifty six thousand, one hundred forty 148 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,719 Speaker 1: three people, mostly gay men, had died. So I mean, 149 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: this was a full blown epidemic and it was concentrated 150 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: in the gay community. And Caroline, we should probably go 151 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: back at some point and do an episode focusing in 152 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: on the AIDS crisis in the nineteen eighties, but we're 153 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 1: really focusing today obviously on women in HIV and AIDS, 154 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: because it really took over a decade for AIDS related 155 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: pop culture and even art to recognize the diseases reached 156 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: beyond gay men. So I guess maybe one of the 157 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: earliest UM instances would have been that reality bite scene. 158 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: Well yeah, and even so, though that character was still 159 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,439 Speaker 1: a straight white woman, So still in this conversation, we're 160 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: lacking women of color, who we will discuss as being 161 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: disproportionately affected by AIDS in hiv UM and lesbians, and 162 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: the erasure of the roles that many lesbians played during 163 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 1: the AIDS crisis of the nineteen eighties is partially attributed 164 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: to the fact that we are only recently in our 165 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: mainstream pay more attention to and researching more and learning 166 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: more about our lgbt Q history in the United States. UM. 167 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: But even still, as Marcia Bianco writes about Indie Wire, 168 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: the longstanding pop cultural portrayal of it as a gay 169 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: cancer um has perpetuated this idea that it was only 170 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: white gay men not only affected, but also who were 171 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 1: the activists protesting, you know, the lack of healthcare around it, well, 172 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: activists and also people who were just there helping exactly 173 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,040 Speaker 1: I mean. And we even see that in more recent 174 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: on screen portrayals as well. Yeah, there's this movie The 175 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: Normal Heart on HBO that was about this crisis and 176 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: about gay men suffering in the midst of the AIDS crisis, 177 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: and it contained only one lesbian character and briefly contained 178 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 1: that lesbian character who tells these guys she's I believe 179 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: her friend had just died and she tells these guys 180 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: that she wants to help in any way quote even 181 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: though all my lesbian friends say, what have you guys 182 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 1: done for us, which, of course paints lesbians across the 183 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: board amid this AIDS crisis of the eighties and nineties 184 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: as bitter and resentful and not wanting to even help 185 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: those who were affected and dying. And Lilian Faderman, who 186 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: is a lesbian scholar and author of The Gay Revolution, 187 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: points out how in the nineteen seventies, Yeah, there was 188 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: some legit acrimony between the gay and lesbian communities. I mean, 189 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: we've talked before, like in our Lavender Menace episode, in 190 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: our episode about radical feminism, there were separatists lesbians who 191 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: really wanted nothing to do with any men, regardless of 192 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,839 Speaker 1: sexual orientation. Um. And in fact, there were plenty of 193 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:35,319 Speaker 1: lesbian feminists who didn't consider gay men any less chauvinistic 194 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: than straight men. However, as Faderman underscores, in the eighties, 195 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: when the AIDS epidemic hits, that rancor really dissolved because 196 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: there simply wasn't time for it. These men were dying 197 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 1: so quickly. Yeah, so you had lesbians who were doing 198 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: everything from starting food banks to working in hospitals weather 199 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: as nurses. So you had women who there are stories 200 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: of women quitting higher paying jobs to go work in 201 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: hospitals as nurses, or they were simply there as visitors 202 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: to hold hands. Uh. They worked to clean up men's 203 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: houses that had essentially been abandoned since they'd been hospitalized. 204 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: And these men themselves had been abandoned by friends and 205 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: families in a lot of cases, and they provided comfort 206 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:27,280 Speaker 1: in hospice and a lot of these women, these lesbian 207 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: women had to take on a lot of misdirected rage 208 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: and bitterness at the time from men who were, you know, 209 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: in dire straits. They were in despair, they were sick, 210 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: scared and alone. And gay men and lesbians at this 211 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: time had a history of gender based division. Yeah, and 212 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: those nuances um to what was going on at the 213 00:14:54,720 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: time is something that producer Sarah Shulman, who produced documentary 214 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: United An Anger a History of act UP and that's 215 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: act UP all caps because the act UP is or 216 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: was a AIDS activism group. Um Shulman has critiqued the 217 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: recent documentary How to Survive a Plague for really overlooking 218 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: or glossing over that kind of coalition activism that was happening, 219 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 1: and um, really focusing on this group of five men 220 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: that it's sort of uplifts as the exclusive heroes, whereas 221 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: in reality, Shulman points out, and as the documentary United 222 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:44,479 Speaker 1: in Anger demonstrates, there was much more bridge building happening. 223 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: I mean, speaking of that coalition building, I mean, these 224 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: narratives of it's all a gay man's problem, particularly a 225 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: white gay man's problem, ignores the fact, the very real 226 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: fact that there were not only women there helping and 227 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: comforting and caring for gay men, but also men who 228 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: were stepping up and saying, we need to count women, 229 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: We need to test women for AIDS in HIV. They 230 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: need to be included in this research, in these numbers, 231 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 1: and in any discussion of health and safety. Yeah. So, 232 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: I mean you you had gay men also protesting for 233 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: the CDC to expand its definition of HIV and AIDS, 234 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: which was limited only two men, because really, up until then, 235 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: there was a complete unawareness of HIV transmission rates via 236 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: lesbian sex or female female sex because the medical community 237 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: just wasn't concerned about it. They assumed that it just 238 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: didn't exist. Wasn't a possibility, and in fact, it's only 239 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: been in the past few years that the Centers for 240 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that yes, indeed, HIV 241 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: can be transmitted through same sex sex between women. Yeah. 242 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:13,199 Speaker 1: And this whole medical marginalization reflected a broader misunderstanding of 243 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:22,159 Speaker 1: lesbian lifestyles and sexuality that could include ivy, drug use, imprisonment, rape, 244 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: and in some cases consensual sex with male partners. That 245 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: there are so many different ways that people can be infected. 246 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,719 Speaker 1: And until the early nineties, the CDCs definition of AIDS 247 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: was based off of its pathology in the male immune system. 248 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: And I already mentioned that AIDS and HIV functions differently 249 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: in women. These infections that were showing up in men 250 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: didn't always happen in women, and so that means it's 251 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: the same thing that we see nowadays with heart disease, 252 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: that heart heart attacks manifest differently in women than men. 253 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: If you don't know you have it, or you don't 254 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: know what to look for, or you don't know what 255 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: safety practices to take suetra, that equates to no treatment, 256 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: that equates to not being counted, and that equates then 257 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: to fewer resources and the cycle continues of medical marginalization. 258 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 1: So Act Up that activists organization that Sarah Shulman documented 259 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: in United and Anger. Its slogan was women don't get AIDS, 260 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 1: they just die from it. And again this was something 261 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: too that activists not only had to protest and push 262 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: forar with the medical community, but also fought back and 263 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: forth within the lgbt Q community at large, because you 264 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: did have some lesbian AIDS activists who were frustrated by 265 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: some lingering misogyny that some gay men would exhibit toward 266 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: them to ignore the fact that lesbians were part of 267 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,399 Speaker 1: this issue too, and the fact too that the women 268 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: were often shoved to the side in some of these 269 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: AIDS activism groups. So intersectionality was not exactly top of mind, 270 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: but also kind of understandable considering the cultural climate and 271 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: also just the level of crisis. So now that we've 272 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 1: had thirty years of AIDS research and we understand far 273 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: more about it now than we did in the eighties, 274 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: we want to talk about the situation with women in 275 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: HIV and AIDS today, and we'll get into that when 276 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: we come right back from a quick break. Every mom 277 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 1: is unique, and we would not want to change a 278 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,880 Speaker 1: single thing about them. 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So, 305 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,719 Speaker 1: women in HIV is something Caroline that we have absolutely 306 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,120 Speaker 1: needed to address. Brent was right, Brent, I really hope 307 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: you're listening to this episode, um, because data from the 308 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: Kaiser Foundation and c d C show that of new 309 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: HIV diagnoses in the US are women, four of whom 310 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: are women who contract HIV from sex with a man. Yeah, 311 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:03,120 Speaker 1: and just of those infections were attributed to IVY drug use, 312 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: which is sort of a flip flop of statistics from 313 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: thirty years earlier. And they found that these diagnoses are 314 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: mostly occurring with women in the tent to thirty four 315 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: year old age range, and this translates that figure to 316 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: new cases among women in alone. And it is interesting 317 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: that and important to note that women are most likely 318 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: to contract it through sex with a man because the 319 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,959 Speaker 1: risk of getting HIV during vaginal sex is way higher 320 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: for women than it is for men, but regardless, anal 321 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: sex is still riskier overall for contracting the virus. And 322 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: the thing is of women living in the US, eleven 323 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: percent of those with HIV don't know they have it, 324 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: and this is so common for STDs in general. I mean, 325 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,960 Speaker 1: herpes can be asymptomatic for a long time. Um, it's 326 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 1: it's HIV. Similarly, it can be asymptomatic. And speaking of herpes, 327 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: contracting other STDs and s t I S also increases 328 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: your likelihood of contracting HIV and when that happens. Women 329 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: also tend to face steeper challenges accessing care due to 330 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:24,200 Speaker 1: factors like socio economics, family responsibilities, cultural inequalities, sexual violence, 331 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:29,160 Speaker 1: um and clinical symptoms and complications that again differ from 332 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: male epidemiology. It's also worth noting that yes, STDs increase 333 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: your likelihood of contracting HIV, but HIV also increases your 334 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: chances of getting HPV, which goes back to what Christian 335 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: was saying at the top of the podcast as far 336 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: as this virus leaving you open to more infections and 337 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 1: because of those healthcare challenges that women tend to face, 338 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: just fort of HIV positive women in the US receive 339 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: regular healthcare. So clearly this is something that needs more 340 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: attention and focus, not just on the individual level, but 341 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: also from the healthcare community. And if we then drill 342 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:18,959 Speaker 1: down and talk about stigma, it is very real. Um. 343 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: A two thousand four study in the Journal of Nursing 344 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: Scholarship found that gender intensifies that HIV stigma, considering how 345 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:30,879 Speaker 1: it has been painted in the US as again a 346 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,680 Speaker 1: white gay man's disease. So it's like this idea that, oh, 347 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: if you're an HIV positive woman, like what's wrong with you? 348 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: Like double what's wrong with you? And I mean women 349 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: do internalize that stigma. I mean, these things don't exist 350 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,719 Speaker 1: in a vacuum. There was a twenty study in Social 351 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: Work Healthcare that found that among pregnant women that stigma 352 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: intensified when seeking perinatal care. So these women you're almost 353 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: pregnant or not, you're almost afraid to even asked to 354 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: even broach the subject and ask your doctor baut getting tested. 355 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 1: And a study on HIV positive women from ninety four 356 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 1: countries around the world found that eighty four reported depression 357 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: and seventy percent reported rejection and their rate of mental 358 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: health problems is three and a half times higher after 359 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 1: HIV diagnosis, and all of those factors are compounded by 360 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,199 Speaker 1: socially disadvantaged identities. So this is the part where we 361 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:35,440 Speaker 1: talk about how women of color are disproportionately affected by 362 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: HIV and AIDS um and this data is coming from 363 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: AMPHAR and the CDC, which finds that Black women are 364 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:50,199 Speaker 1: twenty three times likelier to be diagnosed with HIV and 365 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: Latina women are five times likelier to be diagnosed with 366 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,440 Speaker 1: HIV compared to white women, and this is a disproportionate 367 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: representation compared to their population proportions. So, for instance, women 368 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: of color in the US represent of the U S 369 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: female population but account for eighty four percent of female 370 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: AIDS cases. Yeah and six of women living with HIV 371 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: in this country are black, and according to the Black 372 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 1: Women's Health Imperative, HIV and age related illnesses are the 373 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 1: number one cause of death among Black women ages twenty 374 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: five to forty four. And there's also a regional concentration 375 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: of these HIV cases because seventy of women newly diagnosed 376 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:47,440 Speaker 1: with HIV live in the South, likely due to socioeconomic 377 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: issues of high poverty, low public health access, and low education. 378 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: Compounding that, you also have communities with high incarceration rates, 379 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 1: economic instability, low marriage rates, and sexual violence, all of 380 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: which correlate to hire HIV transmission rates. So these racial 381 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 1: disparities in a lot of ways are very much a 382 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: civil rights issue. Yeah, And I mean it highlights, among 383 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: many things, the fact that our education and health care 384 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: systems are failing these women and failing all of us. 385 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,159 Speaker 1: I mean, this is why, I mean, this is one 386 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: of the many reasons why when I hear about either 387 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: abstinence only sex ad or I hear about the fact 388 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: that there are so many states in this country where 389 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:40,359 Speaker 1: educators aren't even legally required to give accurate and truthful information, 390 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: it just makes me cringe on my deepest, deepest core level, 391 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: because I mean, look, look at these numbers that we've 392 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 1: just read to you. Women are dying. Women are dying, 393 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: and women especially in communities that don't have the same 394 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: level of access to education and healthcare and who are 395 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: suffering from socio economic related issues. These women are dying 396 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: in a disproportionate in disproportionate numbers, and it makes me 397 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: sick well, and it also goes to show to an 398 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 1: often hidden layer to UH sexual violence and domestic abuse, 399 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: which again is correlated to that higher transmission rate as well. Um, 400 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: if we look at the Latino population, UM, seventeen percent 401 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:31,119 Speaker 1: of women in the US living with HIV our Latina 402 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,440 Speaker 1: and in fact, five point five percent of HIV positive 403 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: Latinas are over fifty five, which is um an outlier 404 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: versus the general HIV plus population, which tends to be 405 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: in their twenties and early thirties. And the higher rate 406 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: though of HIV among Latina's is attributed to lower condom usage. Again, 407 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: when you don't have that, say says, save sex education 408 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: and save sex culture happening, this can increase the likelihood 409 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: of transmission. And you also too, I mean this is 410 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: a tangent, but you also to have the thing of 411 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: well he doesn't like wearing condoms, yeah, which which is 412 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 1: not limited to the Latino community. Oh yeah No. Um, 413 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 1: but if we look at new diagnoses, they are fastest 414 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: growing among Native Americans. Between new HIV diagnoses were up 415 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: eight hundred percent among them. Insane, that's insane. We need 416 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: we need education around this. And when you add gender 417 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: identity on top of this, that is also a huge 418 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: factor in HIV rates and diagnoses. In the United States, 419 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: there was a two thousand nine National Institutes of Health 420 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: report that found that nearly a third of Transamericans are 421 00:29:55,360 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: HIV positive, and that number could be higher because as 422 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 1: a lot of people in general, but a lot of 423 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: people in the trans community too, don't know their status. 424 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,840 Speaker 1: And in fact, trans women have the highest HIV rates 425 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: in the US um and again trans women of color 426 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: even more affected. Of black transgender women are HIV positive, 427 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:23,720 Speaker 1: and six of Latina trans women are HIV positive. And 428 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:28,920 Speaker 1: one thing that might hold trans women back from taking 429 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: anti retrovirals are fears of interfering with hormone therapy. Not 430 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: to mention, HIV medications are expensive, and when you weigh 431 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: out that cost in the context of the extreme poverty 432 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 1: and homelessness that many trans women face, these transmission rates 433 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,280 Speaker 1: start to unfortunately make sense. And this was something that 434 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: transgender woman named miss Major talked to out to Son 435 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: of the britom over at HIV Plus magazine. Yeah, Major, 436 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: who's an advocate in her community, says, we have to 437 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:10,480 Speaker 1: scrounge for housing and it puts us in the street 438 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: at night to cover what we need to cover during 439 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: the day. It's kind of like a merry go round 440 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,960 Speaker 1: that we're on, and it's difficult to stay HIV negative. 441 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,600 Speaker 1: And there's also the issue of sex work. So there's 442 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: a four times higher rate of contracting HIV through sex 443 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: work for trans sex workers compared to sis gender sex workers. 444 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: And you know, I feel like a lot of people 445 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: get reaction to that is to be like, well, don't 446 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: be a sex worker. But one thing that this major 447 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: among others addressed in this article was that a lot 448 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: of times sex work is the avenue that is open 449 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: to not only trans women, but to marginalized people who 450 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: have no other way to make a living. They maybe 451 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 1: don't have the same avenues to a job that can 452 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 1: give them a living wage. And if a trans woman 453 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: is incarcerated, there's a good chance that she will also 454 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: be locked up with cis gender men, which could put 455 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: her at a higher risk for rape and sexual violence, 456 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: which again increases the likelihood of HIV transmission. Um but 457 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: HIV outreach often leaves transgender patients out, targeting instead gay 458 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 1: and bisexual cis gender men. So there's obviously more activism 459 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: that needs to keep happening because this isn't just something 460 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 1: that is the relic of a bygone era in the eighties. 461 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,400 Speaker 1: But we gotta bust some myths. Yeah, because this is 462 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: how you keep the conversation going, and this is how 463 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: you push advocacy and activism is educating people and also 464 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: putting the facts out there too. Maybe may s CD 465 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: testing less scary. So first let's talk about how HIV 466 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: is not transmitted um insect bites, toilet seats, kissing, sharing cutlery, 467 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:16,640 Speaker 1: and simply touching does not put you at risk for 468 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: contracting HIV. Yeah, HIV can't survive outside the body, in water, 469 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:25,480 Speaker 1: on surfaces, on musical instruments, so if there is a 470 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: tuba lying around, don't worry. And the education and Outreach 471 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: group AVERT, which by the way, was founded in n 472 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,680 Speaker 1: so it's one of the first AIDS in HIV awareness 473 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: groups out there. They explain the five main ways that 474 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: HIV infected bodily fluids can pass from person to person, 475 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: and those body fluids, by the way, include blood, semen, 476 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: vaginal or anal secretions, and breast milk. Those fluids do 477 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: not include sweat, tears, urine, or feces, but they can 478 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: asked from person to person through unprotected sex, pregnancy and breastfeeding, 479 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:09,960 Speaker 1: intravenous drug use, infected blood donation, or organ transplant. That 480 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,879 Speaker 1: organ transplant thing was an issue for Arthur Ash that's 481 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: how he contracted HIV and accidental contact in a healthcare setting. 482 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:24,840 Speaker 1: So things like mutual masturbation and digital penetration is totally safe, 483 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: but it is recommended to use condoms on sex toys 484 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:33,560 Speaker 1: if you have multiple partners. And the thing that we've 485 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: probably honestly waited too long to emphasize in this podcast 486 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:40,680 Speaker 1: because there's a lot of stigma around this is the 487 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 1: fact that it is not a death sentence UM. Getting 488 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: infected fluid first of all from an HIV positive person 489 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: doesn't guarantee that you will get HIV thanks to medication 490 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: and past exposure prophylaxis UM, and even if both partners 491 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: are HIV positive, they should still practice safe sex to 492 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:10,200 Speaker 1: limit the risk of reinfection. And of course disclosure is 493 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: extremely important. If you are HIV positive and it's highly highly, 494 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:22,360 Speaker 1: highly manageable UM. Thanks to anti retroviral medications, the risks 495 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:27,240 Speaker 1: of passing HIV to a sexual partner are dramatically lower, 496 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:32,399 Speaker 1: and ditto that for reinfecting an HIV positive partner. And 497 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:36,920 Speaker 1: further good news about those anti anti retroviral medications is 498 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:41,360 Speaker 1: that women on those medications who get pregnant, they lower 499 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,279 Speaker 1: the risk of the baby being born with HIV to 500 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,759 Speaker 1: two percent. But some physicians still urge women to opt 501 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 1: for formula instead of breastfeeding just to be safe. And 502 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: if you are dating someone who's HIV positive, there are 503 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:05,799 Speaker 1: medications that at also drastically lower your risk of contracting 504 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:10,319 Speaker 1: HIV and this is called pre exposure prophylaxis or PREP. 505 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 1: And if you have ever listened to Dan Savage's podcast 506 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:17,040 Speaker 1: Savage Love or read any of his columns, you've probably 507 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 1: heard about prep UM and basically UM, an HIV negative 508 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,840 Speaker 1: partner would take this every day, and an HIV negative 509 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:26,759 Speaker 1: single person you don't have to be in a relationship 510 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: to take prep UM, but you take it every day 511 00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: and it lowers that HIV risk by cent and it's 512 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 1: probably closer to and in fact, independent studies confirm its effectiveness. 513 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:49,839 Speaker 1: But there's still slut shaming stigma around PREP even within 514 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:52,680 Speaker 1: the gay mail community. This whole thing of like, oh 515 00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:56,520 Speaker 1: are you single and taking PREP? Okay, you must uh 516 00:36:57,320 --> 00:36:59,600 Speaker 1: he must really be pretty pretty loose in the boots. 517 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:01,759 Speaker 1: I don't know that anyone says loosen the boots by 518 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: the way, losten the boots. Um well, but I also 519 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: just saw a headline that said that people there is 520 00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:12,920 Speaker 1: an alarming, alarmingly low rate of condom use among people 521 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:17,400 Speaker 1: who are taking PREP. So it's almost like PREP is 522 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:22,160 Speaker 1: is obviously important, and I would encourage people to use it. 523 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 1: Obviously you don't need me to encourage you. Um. But 524 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: it's another one of those things where when you increase 525 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,120 Speaker 1: people's comfort level, they're more I guess quick to let 526 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: their guard down, and in this case literally so I 527 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: would please use condoms. What I have to say, well, 528 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,840 Speaker 1: put on condoms and leave off the stigma, because I 529 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:47,800 Speaker 1: think that the one of the biggest upsides to the 530 00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:53,360 Speaker 1: pre and post exposure prophylaxis is the manageability of living 531 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:58,280 Speaker 1: with HIV and being healthy and having a literally healthy 532 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: relationship with a partner. But if you're taking any kind 533 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,279 Speaker 1: of PREP medication, that's I think that should be okay too. 534 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:10,280 Speaker 1: That's that's part of a safe sex arsenal, and there 535 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 1: shouldn't be any shame in that. In the same way 536 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:18,080 Speaker 1: that we have moralized s t I S in general, 537 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,840 Speaker 1: so that if you contract one, you're automatically a dirty, shameful, 538 00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:28,600 Speaker 1: wrong and broken person. You take an HIV diagnosis and 539 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:32,480 Speaker 1: that stigma and just like explode it by ten thousand, 540 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:37,400 Speaker 1: you know. And that's one of the biggest takeaways that 541 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:43,840 Speaker 1: I hope people listening will grasp is that AIDS is 542 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:48,160 Speaker 1: not a death sentence, that people who are HIV positive 543 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: are not just walking contagions, and that they aren't bad people. 544 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,239 Speaker 1: That having HIV or AIDS does not make you a 545 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:02,840 Speaker 1: bad person. So while of course we will always advocate 546 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:10,200 Speaker 1: for using condoms and getting regularly tested and being smart 547 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:14,360 Speaker 1: and safe and consensual with our sex, whether you're having 548 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 1: it monogamously or with so many people you can't even 549 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:22,719 Speaker 1: keep can't like Samantha on sex in the City, we 550 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:30,320 Speaker 1: need to destigmatize these viruses and infections and diseases. Yeah, 551 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,359 Speaker 1: because the less stigma, the less afraid people will be 552 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:39,320 Speaker 1: to get tested, and probably the more funding and medical 553 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:44,880 Speaker 1: research it will get as well. So folks, Brent especially, 554 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:48,759 Speaker 1: we want to know your thoughts about this. And if 555 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:52,360 Speaker 1: you are someone living with HIV or living with a 556 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:54,719 Speaker 1: partner who has HIV and you want to talk to 557 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: us about it. We will absolutely respect your anonymity so 558 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 1: you don't have to worry out that at all, um, 559 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:03,480 Speaker 1: but we really want to know your thoughts about this, 560 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:09,479 Speaker 1: and also fare are older listeners who lived through that 561 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 1: AIDS crisis in the eighties, UM and witnessed everything that 562 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:17,840 Speaker 1: was going on and all of the death that was happening. 563 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,120 Speaker 1: We'd love to hear your insights as well. Mom Stuff 564 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,400 Speaker 1: at House Stuff work dot com is our email address. 565 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:25,719 Speaker 1: You can also tweet us at mom Stuff podcast or 566 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:28,720 Speaker 1: messages on Facebook, and we've got a couple of messages 567 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:30,839 Speaker 1: to share with you when we come right back from 568 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:34,120 Speaker 1: a quick break. Going to the post office is so 569 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,839 Speaker 1: old school, Kristen. Why would you ever leave your house 570 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:39,400 Speaker 1: when you can just use your new fangled computer machine. 571 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,280 Speaker 1: And that, my friends, is why more than six thousand 572 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,719 Speaker 1: small businesses are already using the fancy and high tech 573 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:49,080 Speaker 1: stamps dot com. You can get posted drive from your 574 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:51,719 Speaker 1: desk whenever you need it, twenty four hours a day 575 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:54,480 Speaker 1: because stamps dot com is like a space machine that 576 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:57,640 Speaker 1: turns your computer and printer into a virtual post office. 577 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,319 Speaker 1: And stamps dot com, come on, it's the our way 578 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:02,040 Speaker 1: to do all of your mailing and shipping. It's so 579 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:04,759 Speaker 1: easy to use and so convenient, and that lets you 580 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,960 Speaker 1: focus your time where you want it. I'm building a spaceship, 581 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,319 Speaker 1: I mean, on growing up business. No wonder. Two point 582 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:14,279 Speaker 1: six billion dollars in postage was printed just last year 583 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:18,000 Speaker 1: alone using stamps dot com. And right now, if you 584 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:19,839 Speaker 1: sign up for stamps dot com, you can use our 585 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,239 Speaker 1: promo code stuff for a special offer. It's a four 586 00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:26,239 Speaker 1: week trial with a one ten dollar bonus offer that 587 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:29,480 Speaker 1: includes postage and a digital scale. So don't wait. Go 588 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:31,839 Speaker 1: to stamps dot com before you do anything else. Click 589 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:33,680 Speaker 1: on the microphone at the top of the homepage and 590 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:37,960 Speaker 1: type in stuff that's stamps dot com. Enter stuff and 591 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:44,799 Speaker 1: now back to the show. Well, I have a letter 592 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:49,360 Speaker 1: here from Christina in response to our tanning episode. Uh, 593 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,000 Speaker 1: she says, love your podcast. I really enjoyed your episode 594 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:55,480 Speaker 1: on tanning. I'm originally from the U S but I 595 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:57,239 Speaker 1: live in the Middle East now and here we have 596 00:41:57,280 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 1: a different scene entirely tanning is not in You guys 597 00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:04,920 Speaker 1: mentioned that at one point in the US, whitening substances 598 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 1: were added to skin products to make skin lighter. Well, 599 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:09,960 Speaker 1: in much of the world that custom is still alive 600 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,680 Speaker 1: and well here in the Middle East, Ladies are wise 601 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,200 Speaker 1: to double check the label of any lotion or even 602 00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:19,360 Speaker 1: deodorant because many of them contain skin lightners. From what 603 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,480 Speaker 1: I've seen in my travels, the same is true in 604 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,520 Speaker 1: many countries. White skin and much of Asia is still 605 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:26,919 Speaker 1: seen as the ideal of beauty. Check out almost any 606 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:30,160 Speaker 1: Bollywood movie for evidence. The actors are usually much lighter 607 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,919 Speaker 1: skin than most of the population in India, which goes 608 00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:35,400 Speaker 1: back to your discussion of pop culture and its effects 609 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,279 Speaker 1: on beauty ideals or is it the beauty ideals that 610 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:41,000 Speaker 1: reflect in the pop culture. Thanks so much for your 611 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:44,400 Speaker 1: time and keep the awesomeness coming. Thank you, Christina. So 612 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,960 Speaker 1: I've got to let her here from Nicole, who is 613 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,120 Speaker 1: a spray tan business owner, and she writes, I just 614 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,200 Speaker 1: finished your great podcast on spray tans, and as a 615 00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:57,320 Speaker 1: spray tans specialist and owner of a mobile spray tanning business, 616 00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 1: I can assure you that I've seen all And she 617 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:03,920 Speaker 1: says she's been doing it for four years and she 618 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: always gets the same reaction when she tells people what 619 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:11,480 Speaker 1: she does. You see naked people all day? My answer 620 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:14,560 Speaker 1: is yes, I do, but I no longer look at 621 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,040 Speaker 1: the human body as a naked being, but more of 622 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: a canvas I'm trying to perfectly paint. With this job 623 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:25,240 Speaker 1: comes lots of funny and entertaining stories, but making people 624 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:29,000 Speaker 1: feel more comfortable with their bodies really is what makes 625 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:31,160 Speaker 1: my day. I also find it hard to get the 626 00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:34,120 Speaker 1: younger generation to believe the facts on skin cancer and 627 00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:37,440 Speaker 1: aging skin. So thank you ladies for educating the public 628 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:41,600 Speaker 1: on skin health and sun protection. Well, thank you Nicole 629 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:47,200 Speaker 1: for giving us the inside scoop on spray channing and listeners. 630 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,040 Speaker 1: If you want to email us as well, Mom stuff 631 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:52,920 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com is our email address 632 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:55,120 Speaker 1: and for links to all of our social media as 633 00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,880 Speaker 1: well as all of our blogs, videos, and podcasts with 634 00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:01,919 Speaker 1: our sources. So you can learn more about HIV, head 635 00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:08,760 Speaker 1: on over to stuff Mom Never Told You dot com. 636 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:11,279 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 637 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:20,240 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com