The video revisits the survivor of San Francisco’s 80’s AIDS epidemic. It was a devastating occurrence among gay communities, which led to thousands of deaths. In addition, the video addresses the issue of stigmatization of AIDS among gay people, which prevalent in the 1980s (PBS NewsHour, 2012). Many anti-homosexual individuals saw the AIDS epidemic as a “punishment” for the given sexual minorities, which is a primary example of AIDS stigmatization and discrimination.
The most interesting feature of the video is the fact that gay communities have a strong sense of unity and solidarity towards both other gay people and the rest of the population. In addition, it was interesting to see that even though the acts of discrimination were prevalent, it was not as harsh and widespread as I was expecting. It is probably due to the location being San Francisco. The video is related to the concept of discrimination against homosexual individuals and stigmatization of people with AIDS.
I can improve myself by stopping exerting unnecessary amounts of fear and caution when interacting with people with AIDS. Currently, stigmatization and discrimination of people living with AIDS are quite common in society, especially in the male part, but these phenomena are latent (Misir, 2015). There is an inverse correlation between the level of knowledge on AIDS and the severity of stigma and discrimination. HIV-infected people are subject to both external and internal stigma.
Stigmatization phenomena are also present in the medical environment, in particular, there is such an emotional manifestation of external stigma as a fear of possible infection, which can affect the quality of medical services for HIV-positive patients (Misir, 2015). Overcoming stigma in the system of medical care for HIV-infected patients can be helped by an increase in the level of knowledge on AIDS, as well as an increase in the level of social guarantees for medical workers.
References
Misir, P. (2015). Structuration theory: A conceptual framework for HIV/AIDS stigma. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC), 14(4), 328-334.
PBS NewsHour. (2012). ‘We were here’ revisits San Francisco’s 80’s AIDS epidemic [Video file]. Web.