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My Girlfriends Could Fill A Yanu-Yanu Bus

Author

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  • Amy Kaler

    (University of Alberta)

Abstract

In this paper, I investigate the ways that young men in rural southern Malawi talk about HIV and their own perceptions of risk. I relate these findings first to evolving gender relations in Malawi during the AIDS epidemic, and second to HIV prevention measures, with specific recommendations for changes in existing prevention campaigns. I make three claims in this paper: first, that an unknown proportion of sexually active young men say that they are already HIV-positive, in the absence of any medical evaluation or any signs of AIDS; second, that men's claims to be HIV-positive emerge from a particular configuration of masculinity as well as from personal conviction; and third, that this belief is used to justify continuing risky sexual behaviour, such as having multiple partners or not using condoms, on the grounds that this behaviour is no longer dangerous if one has already contracted the virus. This paper is based on observational journals kept by local research assistants in which they recorded mentions of AIDS in informal conversations which they overheard or participated in. I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this classically anthropological methodology, as distinct from the more survey methods more standard in demography.

Suggested Citation

  • Amy Kaler, 2003. "My Girlfriends Could Fill A Yanu-Yanu Bus," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 1(11), pages 349-372.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:drspec:v:1:y:2003:i:11
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2003.S1.11
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    Cited by:

    1. Friedman, Willa Helterline, 2018. "Antiretroviral drug access and behavior change," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 392-411.
    2. Susan Cotts Watkins, 2004. "Navigating the AIDS Epidemic in Rural Malawi," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 673-705, December.
    3. Phil Anglewicz & Hans-Peter Kohler, 2009. "Overestimating HIV infection:," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 20(6), pages 65-96.
    4. Berit Gerritzen, 2016. "Women's Empowerment and HIV Prevention in Rural Malawi," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 1-25, July.
    5. Nicole Angotti & Amy Kaler, 2013. "The more you learn the less you know? Interpretive ambiguity across three modes of qualitative data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(33), pages 951-980.
    6. Shelley Clark, 2010. "Extra-marital sexual partnerships and male friendships in rural Malawi," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(1), pages 1-28.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    HIV/AIDS; Africa; social interactions; Malawi;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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