Representations of gender,respectability and commercial sex in the shadow of AIDS: a South African case study

Abstract

This paper seeks to illustrate the way in which social representations of gender shape the sexual behaviour of female commercial sex workers selling sex to migrant workers on the South African mines. The paper examines strategies used by women to maintain a sense of gendered respectability in spite of their involvement in a stigmatized profession, strategies involving denial, justification and an appeal to alternative identities. Attention is given to the way in which such strategies undermine women's confidence to insist on condom use in the face of client reluctance. The implications of such representations and strategies for HIV prevention are discussed.

Keywords

Commercial sex work Gender HIV Peer education South Africa Stigmatized identities

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aggleton, P. (1994) A Review of The Effectiveness of Health Education and Health Promotion. Netherlands: Commission of European Communities.

Ankrah, E. M. (1993) “The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Family and Other Significant Relationships: The African Clan Revisited”, Aids Care 5: 5-22.

Bandura, A. (1996) Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Campbell, C. (1994) “Intergenerational Conflict in Township Families: Transforming Notions of `Respect' and Changing Power Relations”, South African Journal of Gerontology 3 (2): 37-42.

Campbell, C. (1995) “The Social Identity of Township Youth: Social Identity Theory and Gender” (Part 2), South African Journal of Psychology 25 (3): 160-167.

Campbell, C. (1997) “Migrancy, Masculine Identities and AIDS: The Psychosocial Context of HIV Transmission in The South African Gold Mines”, Social Science and Medicine 45 (2): 273-282.

Campbell, C. (1998a) “Peer Education and Safe Sexual Behaviour amongst Adolescents”, in H. Moore (ed.) Report on the Health Education Authority's Expert Working Group on Children's Health. London: Health Education Authority (in press).

Campbell, C. (1998b) Social Capital in an HIV-Vulnerable Community: Commercial Sex Workers on the Gold Mines, Research Report Series, Number 37. Johannesburg: Epidemiology Research Unit.

Dube, N. and Wilson, D. (1996) “Peer Education Programmes among HIV-Vulnerable Communities in Southern Africa”, in B. Williams and C. Campbell (eds) HIV/AIDS Management in South Africa: Priorities for the Mining Industry. Johannesburg: Epidemiology Research Unit.

10.

Giddens, A (1990) Modernity and Self-Identity. London: Polity.

11.

Machekano, R. , Bassett, M. , Mbizvo, M. and Latif, A. (1997) “The Impact of Peer Education on HIV Infection in Urban Zimbabwe: Results from a Randomised Control Trial”, paper presented at the Harare Sheraton Hotel, 2 December.

12.

Ngugi, E. , Wilson, D. , Sebstad, J. , Plummer, F. and Moses, S. (1996) “Focused Peer-Mediated Educational Programs among Female Sex Workers to Reduce Sexually Transmitted Disease and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission in Kenya and Zimbabwe”, Journal of Infectious Diseases 174 (Suppl. 2): S240-S247.

13.

Wilson, D. (1995) “Community Peer Education to Prevent STD/HIV/AIDS among Women in Zimbabwe and Zambia”, unpublished report by the Project Support Group, Psychology Department, University of Zimbabwe.