Men and HIV – Media Watch

Men who stay and men who go

HIV/AIDS and the Media Project journalism fellow Willemien Brummer, published a series of articles that investigates men's reactions to the news that their lover is HIV positive. Her series was recently published in the Afrikaans supplement "BY" which appears on Saturdays in Die Burger, Beeld and Volksblad.

Whilst the articles are written in Afrikaans, we trust you will find that the enticing multimedia that accomanies them, needs no translation.

To read her articles, click on the book below:

View the multimedia collage and interview clippings by selecting CONTINUE READING.

Woman Abusers Are Faggots!

Or so the the slogan of a recent Chilean campaign against women and child absue reads...

In Chile and many other countries the word “faggot” is used to describe someone who is “less than a man.” This is quite similar to the “A man who rapes a woman is half a man” campaign used in South Africa a few years back.

The Chilean campaign confuses several issues by suggesting queers or faggots are criminals who brutalise women both mentally and physically. It’s only a short leap from there to gay bashing...

Beware the circumcision quick-fix

Male circumcision has come under the spotlight in recent years for its role in curbing HIV infections.

Government’s planned scale up of medical male circumcision (MMC) has been accompanied by some controversy as apparent “quick-fix” circumcision methods like the Tara KLamp (TK) are presenting some complications.

The TK has not been endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and has been known to lead to more complications (also known as adverse events) than more established methods of medical circumcision.

Brokeback marriage and other stories

Men who have sex with men are typically at a higher risk of contracting HIV. Importantly, it is not only men who identify as gay that have sex with men. Many men, as in the popular Brokeback Mountain, are in fact in committed heterosexual relationships or otherwise identify themselves as straight, but enjoy having a boyfriend on the side. This is particularly common in societies where homosexual activity is socially unacceptable or even illegal.

Journalism fellow Pieter van Zyl has researched this largely unexplored terrain and written moving accounts of how South African men live guilt-ridden double-lives, how they explore and come to terms with their sexuality, how some contract HIV, and some make peace – either with their sexuality or their status. Some even with both.

Not just a chop with a rusty blade

Journalism fellow Mthetho Tshemese investigated the controversy around traditional male circumcision in the context of HIV. His research has recently been published in a series of articles in the Saturday Dispatch.

Most reports on traditional male circumcision tend to gloss over the cultural significance of these practices. In a ather Western voice they tend to focus on the demerits of this kind of genital mutilation and rant about the tragedy of botched circumcisions and resulting deaths.

Few of these detractors consider that circumcision, not only for the Xhosa but also the Jewish and Muslim communities, are the mark of a man.