Update: You know what? A better title for this post would be “A Girl’s Simple Guide For Avoiding AIDS.” The point is that the guide is simple. Then again, the title could refer to women who have a sense of right and wrong, no matter how complicated the world is.
From an unknown writer:
The first thing the candidates might want to do is find out why so many African-American women are getting AIDS. Naturally, there are several factors. The one getting the most publicity is black men on the “down low” — men living with women but seeing boyfriends on the side.
But that is not the real problem, according to most AIDS organizations. Men coming home from prison is a much bigger deal. Fully 95% of American prisons do not provide condoms. Nonetheless, an estimated 65% of male inmates — even the straight ones — have sex. So much for good behavior. When they get out, they spread the diseases they picked up to women as well as men. So, clearly, we need condoms in prison.
An even bigger problem, says Talata Reeves, director of women’s and family services for New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis, is that there is still no AIDS prevention tool that a woman can use that does not require the consent of a man. Right now, if a woman suggests a condom, often her partner thinks she doesn’t trust him or that she has been fooling around. But if there were a microbicide — a virus-killing medicine women could use like a spermicide — a lot more women could discreetly protect themselves. Alas, says Reeves, microbicide research has been “woefully underfunded” by an administration more intent on pushing abstinence and marriage.
Too often, notes Reeves, poor women cannot insist on either of those options. “If you don’t have an income and he does, or if you don’t have another way of feeding your children, or if you are an immigrant and undocumented,” it is harder to demand anything — be it condom use or marriage — from a partner.
There are many points in this article to address, but I’ll keep it simple. To women (married or single, all income levels and education) with HIV or currently having relations with HIV-positive men, in case you’re unaware, HIV is spread through the exchange of body fluids. That took two seconds and no tax dollars.
FYI: It is not President Bush’s or his administration’s fault that you have AIDS. Your choices, including some level of reckless behavior, led to your infection. In other words, the fault lies within yourself. Outdated concept, I know, but bear with me.
If you are a single woman, here’s how you can decrease the likelihood you’ll get AIDS:
1) Don’t date ex-cons or drug users.
2) Become a Christian and/or abstain until marriage to a man who’s done the same.
3) If you can’t/won’t do either, date a man for at least six months and get to know as many of his friends and family as possible before “going all the way.” Insist on an HIV test.
4) If you can’t/won’t do any of the above, insist on an HIV test before “going all the way.”
5) If none of the above interests you, you’re on your own.
Encouraging marriage, abstinence in the absence of wedding vows, general self-restraint and delayed gratification are the best ways to show compassion toward people. Spending money on AIDS research and prevention, coupled with faith-based initiatives (especially those promoting marriage) is about all any president can do to help you out. The rest is up to you. You are a free woman living in a free country.
Bush’s marriage promotion plan:
The Administration’s proposal encourages states to increase their efforts to promote child well-being and healthy marriages. There is an abundant body of research proving that children raised in households headed by continuously married parents fare, on average, better than children growing up in any other family structure. Children growing up without a married mother and father are more likely to experience school failure, to suffer from emotional disturbance or depression, and to abuse drugs. These differences in outcomes for children in two-parent, married families and other families persist even after controlling for family characteristics such as race and parents’ education. For example, children growing up without a married mother and father are about twice as likely to drop out of school, over 50 percent more likely to have a child themselves as a teenager, and over 50 percent more likely to abuse controlled substances. As adults, they are over 30 percent more likely to be both out of school and out of work, and tend to have less stable relationships.
There are exceptions to every rule, but promoting abstinence, marriage and strong families will go a long way toward decreasing those AIDS numbers among women.
For married women with cheating or HIV-positive husbands who don’t want to use a condom — and you don’t want to leave him or insist he wear one — I admit: I don’t know what to say. You have my sympathy and my prayer. But again, it is not Bush’s fault.
Simple advice for living in a world that’s not as complex or nuanced as you think…
