Many people equate STDs with immorality, promiscuous behavior and low social status. What are you thoughts on this statement?
My first thought concerning the equating of STD’s with promiscuous behavior or low social status could be summed up as follows; whether or not morality, behavior or social status have merit; NEVER should a person with a STD be approached by anyone with such a judgmental attitude and never should a person fear this perception and let it stop him/her from seeking out the medical intervention needed. Our first responsibility we have towards one another, as humans, is to meet and help each other where ever we are, take the other’s hand, and lead them to healing or help. Not “beat up each other up with guilt.”
How the perception of “low social status” came about might be traced back to the source of the data collected. “Minorities are more likely than Caucasians to visit public clinics.” (Alexander, LaRosa,, Bader, Garfield, & Alexander, 2009, p. 175). Since these public clinics are the main source to collect data on STD’s, it is of little wonder why then minorities appear more prone to STD’s.
In reading 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, my eyes were opened to how women are so vulnerable to acquiring HIV/AIDS often because of their husband’s infidelity. One women’s husband was a truck driver who acquired AIDS from a truck stop area where AIDS infected prostitutes served truck drivers. (Nolen, 2007, p. 41).
We can see how vulnerable a woman is to become infected with AIDS with no “moral lapse” of her own. In other cases when a woman is diagnosed with AIDS, she is cast out of the home because of the social stigma associated with AIDS. (Nolen, 2007, p. 19). Were such women, already victims, to be approached by a judgmental community and/or medical professionals, offenses to these women would be unnecessarily multiplied.
Alexander, L. L., LaRosa, J. H., Bader, H., Garfield, S. (2010). New dimensions in women’s health (5th Ed.). (p. 175). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Nolen, S. (2007). 28: Stories of Aids in Africa. (p. 19 & 41). New York: Walker Publishing.
My first thought concerning the equating of STD’s with promiscuous behavior or low social status could be summed up as follows; whether or not morality, behavior or social status have merit; NEVER should a person with a STD be approached by anyone with such a judgmental attitude and never should a person fear this perception and let it stop him/her from seeking out the medical intervention needed. Our first responsibility we have towards one another, as humans, is to meet and help each other where ever we are, take the other’s hand, and lead them to healing or help. Not “beat up each other up with guilt.”
How the perception of “low social status” came about might be traced back to the source of the data collected. “Minorities are more likely than Caucasians to visit public clinics.” (Alexander, LaRosa,, Bader, Garfield, & Alexander, 2009, p. 175). Since these public clinics are the main source to collect data on STD’s, it is of little wonder why then minorities appear more prone to STD’s.
In reading 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, my eyes were opened to how women are so vulnerable to acquiring HIV/AIDS often because of their husband’s infidelity. One women’s husband was a truck driver who acquired AIDS from a truck stop area where AIDS infected prostitutes served truck drivers. (Nolen, 2007, p. 41).
We can see how vulnerable a woman is to become infected with AIDS with no “moral lapse” of her own. In other cases when a woman is diagnosed with AIDS, she is cast out of the home because of the social stigma associated with AIDS. (Nolen, 2007, p. 19). Were such women, already victims, to be approached by a judgmental community and/or medical professionals, offenses to these women would be unnecessarily multiplied.
Alexander, L. L., LaRosa, J. H., Bader, H., Garfield, S. (2010). New dimensions in women’s health (5th Ed.). (p. 175). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
Nolen, S. (2007). 28: Stories of Aids in Africa. (p. 19 & 41). New York: Walker Publishing.
How unfortunate that a person may neglect the health care that not only they may need, but are entitled to simply because of embarrassment or humiliation due to another persons judgmental attitude. This saddens me that a woman, no matter the age, may unknowingly cause permanent or irreversible damage to herself because of the ignorant influence of another. Education is the key to such ignorance on both the victim’s part as well as the disparager.
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