Redefining Sex and Intimacy: The Sexual Self‐Images, Outlooks, and Relationships of Gay Men Living with HIV/AIDS

Abstract

This paper examines how gay men living with HIV disease come to terms with the profound sexual implications of their illness. Based on interviews with 25 gay men diagnosed with HIVIAIDS, this paper highlights (a) the disruptions that these men experience in their sexual feelings and selfimages as a result of their illness; (b) the challenges they encounter in negotiating and sustaining sexual relationships; (c) the declines they experience in their sexual attractiveness, desire, and capacities as their illness advances; and (d) the changed meanings they give to sex and self as they come to terms with the erotic implications of their illness and try to preserve valued, intimate identities. In focusing on these themes, this paper offers an "insider's view" into key dimensions of the moral experience of gay men with HIVIAIDS. It also illustrates how the moral experience of these men shifts over the course of their illness, especially in response to the changes and challenges that arise in their intimate relationships and subcultural networks.On a broader, analytic level, this paper addresses a research question that has been neglected in previous studies of the experience of illness-that is, how does serious illness affect the sexuality of diagnosed individuals, particularly their construction of sexual and intimate identities? Through examining this question, this paper contributes to and extends the growing interactionist literature on the consequences of illness for self.Since the early 1980s, interactionist researchers have focused increased attention on the lived experience of illness. In turn, they have developed illuminating analyses of how chronic illness affects the selves and biographies of diagnosed individuals. They have, for instance, revealed how chronically ill people experience and counteract stigma (Schneider

A new grounded theory model of sexual adjustment to HIV: facilitators of sexual adjustment and recommendations for clinical practice

“…Sexual inactivity and no interruption to sexual life as responses to an HIV diagnosis are consistent with past research findings [18][19][20]. However, feelings of relief, freedom from fear of acquiring HIV, an increase in the frequency of sex and expanding of sexual practice after diagnosis as potential responses to HIV diagnosis represent a novel contribution of the current study.…”

Keeping safe, keeping connected: A qualitative study of HIV-positive women's experiences of partner relationships

“…For example, Sandstrom's (1996) study focusing on HIV-positive gay men, found that within this group there was an emerging norm stressing that those engaging in sex were responsible for protecting themselves against infection and should not rely on their partners to reveal their HIV status. Most of the men interviewed including those without lovers, affirmed this norm of self-protection and believed that people infected with HIV were not obliged to inform partners of their serostatus as long as they engaged only in safer sex.…”

“…A small number of qualitative studies are also available, which provide more detailed insights into how HIV infection impacts on gay men's partner-relationships, and on sero-discordant heterosexual relationships. These studies highlight a range of important issues including: the process of adjusting to multiple losses within the relationship and the transition from lover to carer (Powell-Cope, 1995); changes in gay men's sexual self-images and relationships (Sandstrom, 1996); the challenges to intimacy and sexual relationships for gay men in sero-discordant relationships (Palmer & Bor, 2001); the experience of HIV infection as a loss of sexuality, and feelings of alienation with the relationship (van der Straten, Vernon, Knight, Gomez & Padian, 1998); the impact on communication within the relationship (VanDevanter et al, 1999), difficulties with disclosure of HIV-positive status and the potential for relationships to be characterized by particular strain or a greater closeness (Green, 1995).…”

Bad Girls and Fallen Women: Chronic STD Diagnoses as Gateways to Tribal Stigma

“…The criteria for participation included being at least eighteen years of age, having been diagnosed with genital herpes and/or HPV, and a willingness to talk in depth about their illness experiences. As has been the case with many studies of individuals living with HIV and AIDS (Cranson and Caron 1998; Grove, Kelly, and Liu 1997; Sandstrom 1996), I employed a convenience sampling method because of the sensitive nature of the topic. Once interview subjects contacted me, I gained entrée and acceptance via my status as a sexual health educator and a “complete member” (Adler and Adler 1987): at age twenty, I had been diagnosed with a cervical HPV infection.…”

“…Given the globally devastating impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), the majority of social‐psychological studies of sexual health have focused on individuals living with HIV and AIDS (Fernando 1993; Matthews 1988; Plumridge 1998; Ray 1989; Sandstrom 1996). This field of study has produced invaluable findings about the symbolic interaction among gender norms, sexual identity, and illness stigma.…”