HIV/AIDS: Playing with Failure in Caper in the Castro and Two Boys Kissing

Author(s):  
Derritt Mason

This chapter puts into conversation two temporally and formally distant texts: C.M. Ralph’s video game Caper in the Castro, created during the height of the AIDS crisis in 1989 and recently restored in 2017; and David Levithan’s 2013 young adult novel Two Boys Kissing, which is set in the present-day but narrated by a ghostly chorus of gay men—called the “shadow uncles”—who died during the worst of the AIDS epidemic. As a video game, Mason argues, Castro allows us to play with and feel the anxieties about HIV/AIDS that continue to circulate in queer YA and its criticism—including Levithan’s novel, which confines HIV/AIDS to historical trappings, keeping it detached from the social worlds of its young contemporary protagonists. This is consistent with the treatment of HIV/AIDS elsewhere in young adult literature, which habitually mis- and underrepresents the virus in order to preserve the innocence of its protagonists.

Author(s):  
Julia Boog-Kaminski

Artikelbeginn:[English title and abstract below] Kaum eine Zeit steht so sehr für die sexuelle Befreiung und Sprengung familialer Strukturen wie die 1968er (vgl. Herzog 2005). Kaum ein Märchen steht in der psychoanalytischen Deutung so sehr für den sexuellen Reifungsprozess und das Unabhängigwerden eines Kindes wie Der Froschkönig. Der vorliegende Artikel greift diese Verbindung auf, da gerade während der 68er-Bewegung verschiedene Wasser- und Amphibienfiguren in der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur (KJL) vorkommen, die stark an die Motive des Märchens erinnern. Frogs and CucumbersTransformed Men in Children’s and Young Adult Literature Since 1968 In psychoanalysis, the fairy tale The Frog Prince has attracted much interest as a narrative of sexual liberation. Placing this motif at the heart of Nöstlinger’s and Pressler’s ›antiauthoritarian classics,‹ this article puts forward a new reading of literature for children and young adults. Through the ambiguity of the frog figure – oscillating between nature and culture, consciousness and unconsciousness – these books chronicle, in their own manner, the social transformation associated with 1968. They portray the emancipation movement as a hurtful and paradoxical process instead of one that reproduces the myth of linear progress.


2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Goldstein ◽  
H G Pretorius ◽  
A D Stuart

An in-depth look is taken at the specific discourses surrounding the debilitating HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping South Africa and the world. Opsomming Hierdie artikel poog om ‘n indiepte ondersoek te loods na die spesifieke diskoerse rondom die MIV/VIGS epidemie in Suid-Afrika en die wêreld. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Gilbert ◽  
Liz Walker

This paper presents an overview of the development of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, taking into consideration the social context and analyzing the factors most likely to have influenced its spread as well as the societal response to it. The authors argue that macro factors such as social and political structures, in addition to behavioral ones, have combined to shape the course of the epidemic. Since various factors linked to social inequalities have combined to shape the pattern and growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, it is inappropriate to focus on only one dimension in an attempt to combat the epidemic. Following the psycho-socio- environmental model, all potential contributing elements need to be addressed simultaneously. This calls for a true interdisciplinary and multi-sectorial approach. It also requires great commitment as well as strong political will.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Møller

In Africa, AIDS is called the grandmothers' disease because the burden of caring for the sick and the survivors falls on older women. The two abstracts which follow report an overview of research on the social and economic effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa and a case study of an intervention among older women in a Botswanan village.


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 13-16
Author(s):  
Debbie C. Jerez ◽  
Michael Relf

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 11001
Author(s):  
Hadi Suprapto Arifin ◽  
Ditha Prasanti ◽  
Ikhsan Fuady

The phenomenon of HIV and AIDS has evolved into one of the most endless issues of health and social issues in the world, thereby becoming an agenda in the Suistanable Development Goals (SDG’s) Indonesia until this year. Like the iceberg phenomenon, the problem of HIV AIDS is a contemporary issue related to human risk behavior, not just about health problems, but also about the social problems of one’s relationship with the environment. This is what triggered the emergence of social disparity in the tourist area of Pangandaran. The latest data shows Pangandaran as one of the highest areas of HIV AIDS infections. In reality, there is still a gap or disparity between geographic regions, population groups, and socioeconomic levels. Therefore, authors want to know the efforts of local government in highlighting cases of social disparity for HIV AIDS infections in the tourist area Pangandaran. The result of the research shows that there is still a social disparity phenomenon for people living wih HIV AIDS (ODHA) in Pangandaran tourism area, mainly related to 1) Facilitation of health services; 2) HIV AIDS epidemic and; 3) Availability of trained human resources to serve ODHA in Pangandaran. In this case, the local government continues to work and coordinate with various parties, communities, including NGOs of the Matahati Foundation and AHF (AIDS Health Care Foundation) to minimize social disparities for people living with HIV AIDS (ODHA) in Pangandaran.


Author(s):  
Derritt Mason

This book considers the recent surge in queer young adult literature publishing and argues that this explosion of queer representation has prompted new forms of longstanding cultural anxieties about adolescent sexuality. In particular, critics of queer texts for young people seem concerned with the following questions: what makes for a good “coming out” story? Will increased queer representation in popular culture teach adolescents the right lessons, and help queer youth live better, happier lives? What if these stories harm young people instead of helping them? Although these concerns spring from a particular contemporary moment, Mason illustrates how the history of adolescence is itself a history of anxiety, and how young adult literature emerged, in part, as a way of managing various cultural and social anxieties. Mason suggests that “queer YA” is usefully understood as a body of trans-media texts with blurry boundaries, one that coheres around affect—specifically, anxiety—instead of content. To clarify this point, Mason draws on criticism about a range of texts for and about queer adolescents, including an assortment of young adult books; Caper in the Castro, the first-ever queer video game; online fan communities; and popular television series Glee and Big Mouth. Themes that generate the most anxiety about adolescent culture, Mason argues—queer visibility, risk-taking, HIV/AIDS, dystopia and horror, the promise that “It Gets Better” and the threat that it might not—challenge us to rethink how we read and engage with young people’s media.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-84
Author(s):  
Annika Herb

Contemporary Young Adult literature is a favored genre for exploring sexual assault, yet rarely interrogates the social structures underpinning rape culture. In its representation of heterosexual relationships, Young Adult paranormal romance offers insight into the processes and structures that uphold rape culture. Genre tropes normalize abusive behavior and gender ideals, demonstrating the explicit and implicit construction of rape culture, culminating in the depiction of supernatural possession analogous to rape. Here, I reflect on power, control, rape culture, and girlhood in a textual analysis of Nina Malkin’s Swoon, Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush, and Sarah Rees Brennan’s The Demon’s Covenant. A constructive reading reflects implicit cultural discourses presented to the girl reader, who can apply this to her own negotiation of girlhood.


Author(s):  
Rachelle S. Savitz ◽  
Leslie Dawn Roberts ◽  
Kim Ferrari ◽  
Steven Jernigan ◽  
Rachel Danielle Long

Addressing the social and emotional needs of students is not only vital, but it should be a priority for all teachers. Teaching social and emotional skills directly influences students' academic ability. Yet, many schools and classrooms do not see the connection between their instruction and curriculum with SEL. Often, schools have set aside a portion of the school day, or a few minutes at the end of the class period, to check in with students or teach specific skills. One way that students can explore their own identities and build a sense of agency is through the use of young adult literature. There are many ways that teachers can incorporate YA in the classroom to build SEL. This chapter focuses on how three current in-service teachers use YAL to address SEL in their classrooms. They each provide a brief background of who they are, their beliefs about using YAL to address SEL in their classrooms, and authentic examples from their instruction. Using these descriptions, the authors hope this chapter will help promote using YAL to address SEL in classrooms.


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