Abstract

SUIT, Dafne  and  CHAVES, Antonio Marcos. Deing feminine:  a permission for being susceptible to the hiv/aids virus?. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2005, vol.15, n.2, pp. 82-90. ISSN 0104-1282.

From a socio-cultural perspective, the HIV/AIDS epidemic course is nowadays characterized in Brazil as a broader context in which the social dimension is organized and inextricably links feminization, heterosexuality and poverty. Systematic analysis of socio-cultural contexts has been indicating that the pattern in which these elements are organized has an important role in the path infection has acquired among those people inserted in those contexts. Regarding women's infection, it has been observed that the female gender in Brazil finds itself vulnerable to a rising mortality rate. The findings show that the social pattern in which the feminine gender has been socially built turned to be a facilitator for women's vulnerability. Suggesting the use of prophylactics in stable relationships is an uncommon practice and women's power of negotiation for such seems to be inversely proportional to women's dependence on the male who is the head of the family. This text brings a series of reflections concerning the social construction of the feminine role and infection by HIV. Taking into consideration, as a theoretical standpoint, the Individualism/Collectivism model, it considers the possibility that women have a cultural profile that enables them to be more centered on the collective dimension, especially regarding the preservation of family community, which makes them be more vulnerable to the infection.

Keywords : HIV/AIDS; Gender; Woman; Individualism and Collectivism.

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