Sin, Sex and Stigma: A Pacific Response to HIV and AIDS

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

If you took an undergraduate course in anthropology, chances are high that you learned about the South Pacific. Notables like Margaret Mead and Bronislau Malinowski made their marks there, and it continues to be a part of the world that many think of with intrigue and wonder. Anthropologist and ethnographer Lawrence James Hammar continues on the path of many greats in Papua New Guinea, but he takes a distinctly sharp turn in his subject matter.

According to Hammar, HIV/AIDS present a problem in Papua New Guinea in a unique way. Having studied it for years, he has an incredibly passionate and firm opinion on how the country is failing its people and why. He tackles gender roles and perceptions of appropriate sexual behavior, which suggest that protected sex has no place between couples. This is precisely the problem, as HIV transmission is mainly occurring between heterosexual couples.

The current HIV/AIDS education and prevention methods fail to acknowledge Papua New Guinea’s sexual networks. The one-size-fits-all approach does not take into account the sex trade or the gross injustices that women face when it comes to expression and control over sexuality. Likewise, the pervasive influence of the Church has essentially forbidden discussion and distribution of condoms in many areas. Church leaders have gone public with anti-condom messages with blatant lies about their effectiveness and have contributed to the overall stigma of protected sex. Hammar dramatically refers to this dilemma as “Biological death versus social leperhood.” To further describe this situation, he explains the multiple interpretations of the ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful, Condoms) message. Instead of condoms, some are teaching “C” to stand for commitment or Christian values. While this alone is not objectionable, Hammar points out that this ignores the reality of what is occurring in Papua New Guinea and contributes to the overall situation of HIV/AIDS not being dealt with in a productive manner.

Hammar sounds infuriated at times in this book, and the reader cannot help but feel the same. Though this situation is replicated in other forms the world over, Hammar pounds the Papua New Guinea-specific message home: What’s being done now isn’t working and it’s harmful. In the epilogue, he finally addresses the role of the anthropologist and takes up the difficult topic of how positive change might be effected as a result of his research and findings. He acknowledges the conflicting perspectives and the respect he has for the country and its people while also setting the stage for what hopefully will lead to constructive conversation.

Overall, Sin, Sex and Stigma reads like an academic text with very few literary flourishes added for readability. Its audience is very specific, and even within that audience, some readers may have difficulty following Hammar’s writing. Though informative, the book is heavy in content and delivery, and should only be considered by those who are already interested in the topic at hand.

Written by: Shana Mattson, July 11th 2010

The White Mary

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:01:00 +0000

By Kira Salak

Picador

Marika Vicera is a war reporter who has dedicated herself to telling the stories of oppressed peoples around the world. She is giving a talk at Boston University when she meets a psychology doctoral student named Sebastian Gilman. Seb, as he is known, is in awe of Marika's war reports, which have landed frequently on the covers of major newspapers. Although Marika doesn't think much of the practice of psychology, she is taken with Seb. Marika takes a break from her globe trotting to write a biography of famous journalist Robert Lewis, who recently committed suicide. At the same time, she begins dating Seb, and, eventually, she moves in with him.

Soon, the memories of her near death in the Congo begin to haunt her. She feels the easy life she has in Cambridge is meaningless, and she begins to push Seb away. She refuses to let Seb use any of his psychology skills to help her. When she learns that Robert Lewis may be alive in Papua New Guinea, she uses that as an excuse to run from Seb and the intimacy that is so uncomfortable to her.

Marika has admired Lewis all of her life, and now she is driven to find out what really happened to him. She ends up alone in the “heat and humidity of New Guinea...covered in sweat, her clothes entirely soaked. She accidentally left the top of her tent unzipped, and engorged red mosquito bites cover her body like a series of reprimands: do not underestimate this world.”

There have been a couple of sightings of someone who resembles Lewis near Walwasi Mountain, a distant region. Marika hires a guide, who abandons her before they reach their destination. She recruits Tobo, a medicine man in the village where she is abandoned. He reluctantly agrees to take her, as he sees it as a spiritual obligation. The trip to Walwasi Mountain is harrowing: by the time they reach the village, Marika is near death. She is completely dependent on Tobo, who relies on magic and herbs to keep her alive.

Salak's descriptions of Papua New Guinea are vivid and brutal. The fact that Salak herself actually did walk across the country as a reporter lends credence to the world she creates on the page. Salak describes Krit, a village they pass on the way to Walwasi Mountain that seems to have been cursed, and unflinchingly: “Marika sees a little girl with a distended belly relieving herself under one of the huts. Flies buzz over piles of feces scattered about the village, and a fetid stench wafts to her on the breeze.”

The White Mary is indeed a page turner, though at times the back story about Seb and even Robert Lewis seems to interrupt the Papua New Guinea narrative. The connection between the Marika of Papua New Guinea and the Marika back in the States was tenuous and might have been more carefully interwoven. Salak's examination of Seb's insights into psychology in relation to Marika's own psychological makeup could be a bit less heavy handed as well.

But Marika's journey, in the end, goes beyond a search for Robert Lewis. It becomes a search for her own soul, and her own sense of what really matters in life. Ultimately, Salak has crafted a rousing and ultimately satisfying adventure.

Written by: Natasha Bauman, December 7th 2009