Constructing Gender and Sexuality in HIV/AIDS IEC Materials in Tamil Nadu: a Social Semiotic Approach
Keywords:
Gender, Sexuality, HIV/AIDS, Social Semiotics, IEC materials.Abstract
The epidemic HIV/AIDS has been alarmingly threatening the developing countries like India. To address the issues of control and management of this vexatious infection, nations of the world have developed, created and circulated Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials. Following in the footsteps of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Tamil Nadu has produced many IEC materials. It is in the portrayals of such materials that construction of gender and sexuality takes place in the form of gendered social actors. Many impact studies have been conducted on these materials. But this study concentrates on the less researched area of how the construction of Gender and Sexuality in these IEC materials takes place using Social Semiotic Approach through the Gupta’s Continuum of Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality in HIV/AIDS programmes. Five IEC materials in the form of posters were taken for the analysis. While analysing these materials under Gupta’s continuum consisting of stereotypical, neutral, sensitive, transformative and empowering constructions, the fact as to what type of gendered social actors were made of were also revealed.
Â
References
Bekele, A. and Ali, A. (2008). “Effectiveness of IEC interventions in reducing HIV/AIDS related stigma among high school adolescents in Hawassa, Southern Ethiopiaâ€, Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 8;22(3):232-242).
Chong, J. and Kvasny, L. (2007). “A Disease That ‘Has a Woman’s Face’: The Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality in HIV/AIDS Discoursesâ€, Intercultural Communication Studies XVI: 3, 2007. 1-13. Accessed from http://www.uri.edu/iaics/content/2007v16n3/04%20Jing%20Chong%20&%20Lynette%20Kvasny.pdf.
Cukier, W. and Bauer, R. (2004). “Applying Habermas’ validity claims as a standard for critical discourse analysis.†In B. Kaplan, D. Truex III, D. Wastell, T. Wood-Harper & J. I. DeGross (Eds.), Information systems research: Relevant theory and informed practice. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Cullen, J. (1998). “The needle and the damage done: research, action research, and the organizational and social construction of health in the “information society.†Human Relations, 51(12), 1543-1564.
Godbole, S. and Mehendale, S. (2005). “HIV/AIDS epidemic in India: risk factors, risk behaviour and strategies for prevention and controlâ€, Indian Journal of Medical Research, 121, pp.356-368.
Gupta, G. R. (2000). “Gender, sexuality, and HIV/ AIDS: The what, the why, and the how (Plenary Address)â€, Proceedings of the 13th International AIDS Conference, Durban, South Africa.
Hodge, R. and Kress, G. (1988). “Social Semioticsâ€, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1988.
Jackson, R. L., Warren, J. R., Pitts, M. J., & Wilson, K. B. (2007). “It is not my responsibility to teach culture!: White graduate teaching assistants negotiating identity and pedagogyâ€. In L. Cooks (Ed.), Whiteness, pedagogy, and performance. New York: Routledge.
Johnson, J. L., Greaves, L., & Repta, R. (2003). “Better science with sex and gender: A primer for health researchâ€, Vancouver, BC, Canada: Women’s Health Research Network.
Kress, G. (2003). “Literacy in the media ageâ€, London: Routledge.
Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (1996). “Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Designâ€, London: Routledge.
TANSACS. (2013). “Annual Report 2012-2013â€, Chennai.
UNAIDS. (1999). “Gender and HIV/AIDS: Taking Stock of Research and Programs†Geneva.
World Health Organization website. (2015). Cairo, Retrieved on July 10, 2015 from http://www.emro.who.int/child-health/community/information-education-communication.html.
Winett, L.B., and Wallack, L. (1996). “Advancing public health goals through the mass mediaâ€, Journal of Health Communication, Volume 1, pp.173–196.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
- Papers must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis) and are not currently under consideration by another journal published by any other publisher.
- It is also the authors responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular source are submitted with the necessary approval.
- The authors warrant that the paper is original and that he/she is the author of the paper, except for material that is clearly identified as to its original source, with permission notices from the copyright owners where required.
- The authors ensure that all the references carefully and they are accurate in the text as well as in the list of references (and vice versa).
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.