Prostitution Narrative
Departure
As habit persists with all things HIV/AIDS, the AIDS narrative seemingly has no place in the predetermined illness narratives landscape, comprised of restitution, chaos, and quest. I do not mean to imply that the literature ignores these stories; rather this framework fails to support the complexity of the AIDS narrative. How to Survive a Plague chronicles the AIDS narrative through a simultaneously broad and narrow lens, and the stages include a world without treatment. This includes complacency in the face of AIDS, the dramatic endeavor to gain recognition and medical treatment for AIDS, and the eerily tranquil aftermath thereof. Illness stories rely too heavily on individualism, and the AIDS narrative depends on community and support, …show more content…
To satisfy the return to health of the restitution narrative, may we consider the successful implementation of ART as a return to health? I argue that “hardly” answers that question. What part of surviving the disease, struggling with medical adherence, and suffering from incessant side effects qualifies as restitution? A restitution plot “is about remaking the body in an image derived either from its own history before illness or from elsewhere” (Frank 87). Rather than health remaking or restoring the body, the AIDS sufferer experiences a remodel courtesy of HIV, the illness itself. Frank valiantly asserts that the restitution narrative involves three requirements, but one, “illness is not to be regarded as the sick person’s fault,” stands out in the context of an AIDS narrative (Frank 81). Such a requirement automatically strips the AIDS narrative of any claim to restitution. What theme permeates the AIDS narrative more than stigma and otherness? How to Survive a Plague exposes the disdain for the AIDS community through repeated political assaults by Jesse Helms as well as overall complacency by Americans. Such complacency stems from gay discrimination along with victim blaming. This suggests that those inflicted have no chance for restitution by virtue of personal choice. Regardless of causation, restitution’s description of AIDS narratives falls maddeningly short of the
As habit persists with all things HIV/AIDS, the AIDS narrative seemingly has no place in the predetermined illness narratives landscape, comprised of restitution, chaos, and quest. I do not mean to imply that the literature ignores these stories; rather this framework fails to support the complexity of the AIDS narrative. How to Survive a Plague chronicles the AIDS narrative through a simultaneously broad and narrow lens, and the stages include a world without treatment. This includes complacency in the face of AIDS, the dramatic endeavor to gain recognition and medical treatment for AIDS, and the eerily tranquil aftermath thereof. Illness stories rely too heavily on individualism, and the AIDS narrative depends on community and support, …show more content…
To satisfy the return to health of the restitution narrative, may we consider the successful implementation of ART as a return to health? I argue that “hardly” answers that question. What part of surviving the disease, struggling with medical adherence, and suffering from incessant side effects qualifies as restitution? A restitution plot “is about remaking the body in an image derived either from its own history before illness or from elsewhere” (Frank 87). Rather than health remaking or restoring the body, the AIDS sufferer experiences a remodel courtesy of HIV, the illness itself. Frank valiantly asserts that the restitution narrative involves three requirements, but one, “illness is not to be regarded as the sick person’s fault,” stands out in the context of an AIDS narrative (Frank 81). Such a requirement automatically strips the AIDS narrative of any claim to restitution. What theme permeates the AIDS narrative more than stigma and otherness? How to Survive a Plague exposes the disdain for the AIDS community through repeated political assaults by Jesse Helms as well as overall complacency by Americans. Such complacency stems from gay discrimination along with victim blaming. This suggests that those inflicted have no chance for restitution by virtue of personal choice. Regardless of causation, restitution’s description of AIDS narratives falls maddeningly short of the