In this paper we explore the maintenance of the duplicitous discourse of heterosexual AIDS by examining how identities are articulated as threatening through the modem "logic of containment" that underlies the discursive formation around AIDS. Specifically, we examine the mainstream media's coverage of Magic Johnson's announcement that he had tested positive for HIV antibodies. We suggest that Johnson's HIV status is codified through the pro-family agenda, the war on drugs, and anti-welfare strategies established under Reagan so as to render deviance visible and contain AIDS in the national imaginary. This narrative simultaneously produces a white, heterosexual "general public" that is compassionate, responsible, safe, and threatened, while obscuring the responsibility of multinational capitalism and the Reagan-Bush administration for the erosion of social welfare programs and the neglect of AIDS.At 4:00 p.m. on November 7, 1991, major and local networks interrupted their scheduled programming to cover what has been called &dquo;the saddest press conference in sport history&dquo;: Ervin &dquo;Magic&dquo; Johnson's announcement that he would immediately retire from the National Basketball Association (NBA) because he had tested positive for HIV antibodies. In his calm, self-assured, smiling style, and with at GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIV LIB on June 4, 2016 crs.sagepub.com Downloaded from 124 wife Cookie positioned just behind him as he stood at the podium, Johnson told the nation that he would miss basketball, &dquo;the battles and the wars,&dquo; but that &dquo;most of all [he would] miss the camaraderie with the guys.&dquo; He went on to say that he planned to become a spokesperson for the virus and for safe sex. And, perhaps most important, he assured a nation of fans of both his and their heterosexuality : &dquo;I think sometimes we [emphasis added] think, well, only gay people can get it, it's not going to happen to me. And here I am saying it can happen to anybody, even me, Magic Johnson.&dquo; Throughout his professional career as well as during and after his announcement, Johnson-that is, Johnson's body-was central to the cultural imagination. It was the super-power behind a 12-year professional career highlighted by five world championships, three Most Valuable Player awards, and a NCAA Basketball Championship; as Johnson disclosed his HIV status, his body became the site of the apparent degenerative effects of AIDS. Given popular representations of people living with AIDS (PLWAs), Johnson's &dquo;retirement&dquo; remained, at least initially, an unquestioned, self-evident necessity. 1
Vignettes depicting a person living with a fictitious fatal illness were presented to 222 undergraduates. Manipulated variables in a completely randomized 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design were method of transmission of the illness (genetic/contagious/infectious), the population likely to become ill (anyone/primarily marginal persons), and the amount of suffering (little/much). Subjects reported on perceptions of ease of transmission of the illness, danger of contact with the ill person, blame, support of sanction, and social distance. Multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the manipulated variables affected the dependent variables considered together. Greatest prejudice was shown toward persons suffering greatly from an infectious illness that affected primarily marginal persons. Results are discussed relative to HIV.
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