Seen, But Not Heard: AIDS, Sexual Politics
and the Untold War Against Black Women
a documentary by Cyrille Phipps

Part 1 on a series of blogs on Hip Hop and AIDS

From time to time, I have the opportunity to work with middle and high school students. One morning, as I entered my video class, I heard one young woman singing a line from the Rick Ross song, Aston Martin Music. “I love a nasty girl who swallow what’s on the menu.” It doesn’t take a genius to know what he meant or to realize the connection a young woman makes when she hears and repeats the same lyrics. The recent criticism of Ashley Judd around her comments about hip-hop and rap music reminded me of that surreal moment. In her recent memoirs, she criticized YouthAIDS, an organization she has supported, for public service announcements they made with the rappers, Snopp Dogg and Diddy. “As far as I’m concerned, most rap and hip-hop music — with it’s rape culture and insanely abusive lyrics and depictions of girls and women as ‘ho’s’ — is the contemporary soundtrack of misogyny. “I believe that the social construction of gender — the cultural beliefs and practices that divide the sexes and institutionalize and normalize the unequal treatment of girls and women, privilege the interests of boys and men, and, most nefariously, incessantly sexualize girls and women — is the root cause of poverty and suffering around the world.” Though, all of hip-hop doesn’t deserve this criticism or subscribe to this practice of misogyny, there is a segment of the industry that profits from its perpetuation of a hyper sexual depiction of women, especially young women of color. Whether you support her comments or not, what is most significant is the connection Ms. Judd makes to rap music, sex and HIV/AIDS, one that apparently YouthAIDS failed to make.

In 2006, the RAND Corporation, a leading healthcare research organization produced the study “Exposure to Degrading Versus Non-Degrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behaviour among Youth.” Dr Steven Martino, who led the US study, said that “sexually degrading lyrics” - many graphic and filled with obscenities – caused changes in adolescents’ sexual behaviour. “These portrayals objectify and degrade women in ways that are clear but they do the same to men by depicting them as sex-driven studs. Musicians who use this type of sexual imagery are communicating something very specific about what sexual roles are appropriate, and teenage listeners may act on these messages.”

This study didn’t tell us something we didn’t already know. Walk through any urban neighborhood in any major city and listen to the kids repeat the lyrics as soon as their favorite rapper comes on the radio. But what this study doesn’t address is the connection between these lyrics and the same audience having some of the high STDs and HIV infection rates in the country.

When thinking of that 16yr old girl in my class and knowing how she was connecting sex to her favorite rap songs, all I could hope was that she was practicing safe sex. According to the CDC, “African Americans were disproportionately affected by HIV infection, accounting for 55% of all HIV infections reported among persons aged 13–24.” Approximately 50 percent of all high school students in grades nine through 12 have had sexual intercourse; almost 25 percent of all 12th graders have had four or more partners. In addition, the sexual behavior of young people is highly influenced by the use of alcohol and drugs, which decreases decision-making skills and has a negative effect on behavior, according to a study by the American Federation of AIDS Research (2001).

These are alarming statistics and yet we are not alarmed as a community. We can no longer cry foul at the mere suggestion between hip-hop and sexual misconduct. This is not what hip-hop is suppose to be, its not the hip hop of my generation. The early days of hip-hop was about bragging about how fly you were, how good you could rhyme and what rapper got all the cute girls. But, with the development of gangster rap and the introduction of drugs and gang culture into hip-hop, women went from being Fly Girls to Hos, Golddiggers, Bitches and nothing more than a good f*ck. When you consider the depiction of women in most rap lyrics (listen to any Lil Wayne or Rick Ross song) its becomes easy to see how Ms. Judd came to her conclusion. But this is not really just about rap and hip-hop. Because when Lil Wayne has faded into dust, there will be another like him, if not worse.  What this is really about is treating youth solely as a marketing commodity. Pick almost any of MTV’s shows, The Jersey Shore or Skins (also known as Porn for Teens) and you can see how drugs, sex and violence are used as marketing tools to seduce them into whatever product is being sold. And although, we need to hold these artists, tv shows, record execs and anyone who makes a profit at the expense of our children accountable for the work they produce, we as a community of adults need to be more accountable as well.

While young people are overwhelmed by messages about sex from the music they listen to, to the shows they watch. The one message they don’t get is how to make healthy decisions about sex. Researchers at APA’s Annual Convention shared some of the latest research on what affects those messages and how parents and teachers can do more to help adolescents make better decisions.

“Christopher Houck, PhD, at Rhode Island Hospital, ran a study looking into whether mentally disordered teens’ “affect regulation” skills — their ability to make good decisions in the face of strong emotions — played a part in their attitudes toward and knowledge about sex. “If you don’t have good affect regulation skills, then if someone’s pressuring you to smoke pot or have sex, you’re more likely to engage in those behaviors,” he said. In a study, Houck used questionnaires to find out about the emotional awareness, affect management skills and attitudes toward sex of 138 seventh-graders in Rhode Island who had been identified as having, or as suspected of having, mental health problems. He then ran an after-school intervention program that taught teens how to identify their own emotions and strategies for dealing with them. When Houck tested those teens again a few weeks later, they reported better emotional awareness and increased use of strategies to get out of situations they didn’t want to be in”.

The same way we want our children to be financially responsible, educational advanced and socially aware, we must also want them to be sexually mature. You may not be able to stop them from having sex any more than you are able to keep them from drinking or smoking but you can arm them with tools to address the social pressures, mentally and emotional challenges of being in a sexual relationship. Safe sex education needs to happen as early as possible as the high infection rates of STDS in middle and junior high schools shows. This can and should include abstinence programs but should not be the sole form of STD and HIV awareness and safe sex education. And all forms of safe sex education should be paired with sports programs and other after-school activities. Studies prove the physical activites improves the academic performance and self esteem of youth that participate in such programs. All this to demonstrate, that the more active youth are, the more involved in sport, social, educational and cultural activities they are. The less likely there will be unplanned preganancies, HIV inections and STDS along with drugs and alcohol abuse. The more positive influences they have, the less likely the negative influences will play a major role in their lives. The simple suggestion from a rapper’s lyric will just be that. Making sure a child has all these positive influences are not just the job of their parensts but has to be the committment of the extended family, school and community. If we make this a community effort, if we take the time and use the resources at hand, then we can make a significant difference in the lives of this generation of youth. Teen pregnancy, STD and HIV statistics will drop but it will come at a cost. It may just hurt the record sales and tv ratings of some of the most popular shows and artists but that should be a chance we can be willing to take.

MORE THAN 280,000 WOMEN AND ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN AMERICA ARE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS…AND NEARLY 94,000 HAVE DIED SINCE THE EPIDEMIC BEGAN. MORE THAN 6 IN 10 NEW HIV INFECTIONS AMONG WOMEN WERE AMONG THOSE AGES 13-39 IN 2006.

All too often women are powerless when it comes to negotiating sex, hence the rise in HIV across the world and in the United States. Lifebeat encourages women and girls to stand up for their sexual health, their rights and their lives. With the support of artists and the music industry we’re budiling a strong message of support for women and raising awareness of HIV/AIDS.

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is a nationwide observance that encourages people to take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS and raise awareness of its impact on women and girls. It is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH). It helps organizations across the country come together to offer support, encourage discussion, and teach women and girls about prevention of HIV, the importance of getting tested for HIV, and how to live with and manage HIV/AIDS.

From the CDC

In 2009, nearly a quarter of diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States were among women and girls aged 13 years and older. Additionally, almost 184,000 women and adolescent girls were living with HIV at the end of 2008. More than 101,000 women and girls with AIDS have died since the epidemic began.

Women and girls of color—especially black women and girls—bear a disproportionately heavy burden of HIV infection. In 2009, for adult and adolescent females, the rate of diagnoses of HIV infection for black females was nearly 20 times as high as the rate for white females and approximately 4 times as high as the rate for Hispanic/Latino females. The reason women of color are more severely burdened by HIV and AIDS are not directly related to race or ethnicity, but rather to some of the barriers faced by many in these communities across the country. To end this epidemic, we must confront the Social Determinants that continue to place these women and girls at greater risk of contracting HIV. Social Determinants of Health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illness.

Relatively few cases were diagnosed among Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander females, and females reporting multiple races, although the rates for these groups were higher than the rate for white females.

CDC estimates that 1 in five people living with HIV infection in the United States do not know they are infected. Getting tested for HIV is the first step to protecting yourself and others. Knowing your own HIV status and that of your male sexual partners is critical because 85% of newly diagnosed HIV infections in American women and girls result from sex with an infected male partner. Early diagnosis of HIV allows for counseling and prompt treatment. HIV treatment prolongs life and reduces the risk of further HIV transmission. If you are a pregnant woman, it is especially important that you get tested early to help ensure, that if you are HIV-positive, you do not transmit the virus to your unborn child. Encouraging your partner to wear a condom every time you engage in sexual activity is another important way to protect yourself.

Make National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day a day to get the facts about HIV—to learn how HIV is spread, if you are at risk, and how to protect yourself and your loved ones. And, if you are a parent, talk with your kids about HIV. It’s time to get tested.

To find an HIV testing location near you, go to www.hivtest.org or text your ZIP Code to KNOW IT (566948). For more information on this day, theme, and events please visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health, which is leading activities for this observance.

What Can You Do?

• 
• Get tested for HIV. To find a testing site center near you, text your ZIP Code to KNOW IT (566948).
• Talk with your health care provider about your risks for HIV.
• Get the facts about HIV/AIDS by visiting the Act Against AIDS web site
• including:
  • The risk factors for acquiring HIV.
  • How to avoid high-risk behaviors.
  • How to practice safer methods to prevent HIV.
• Talk about HIV prevention with family, friends, and colleagues.
• Volunteer at a local organization that serves people living with HIV.
• Attend an event near you.
• Learn more about the impact of HIV/AIDS among women in the United States.
• Stand up against stigma, racism, and other forms of discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS.
• Donate time and money to HIV/AIDS organizations.

Events will be happening all month long throughout New York City and around the country!

From the Black AIDS Day website:

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, February 7th of every year, is a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at Blacks in the United States and the Diaspora. There are four specific focal points: education, testing, involvement, and treatment. Educationally, the focus is to get Blacks educated about the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local communities. Testing is at the core of this initiative, as it is hoped that Blacks will mark February 7th of every year as their annual or bi-annual day to get tested for HIV. This is vital for those who are sexually active and those at high risk of contracting HIV. When it comes to community and organization leadership, getting Blacks involved to serve is another key focus. We need Black People from all walks of life, economic classes, literacy levels, shades and tones as well as communities (large and small) to get connected to the work happening on the ground in their local areas. And lastly, for those living with HIV or newly testing positive for the virus, getting them connected to treatment and care services becomes paramount.

The summer is almost over and it’s been a hot one. Heat and sex seem to go hand in hand especially when it comes to causal sex. It’s easy to hookup with someone after an informal dinner, while at the club or at a friend’s BBQ. But, if you’re not careful, hooking up can be dangerous! Those who are hooking up or just having causal sex are more than likely sharing or overlapping sexual partners. In the article by Linda Villarosa, The Dark Side of Hookups, “Friends With Benefits” and F— Buddies, “These partnerships can speed the spread of sexually transmitted diseases,” Dr. Paik says. “With sequential partnerships, the disease has to wait before it can spread. Between relationships, for example, a bacterial infection can be treated. With overlapping relationships, the disease doesn’t have to wait.” When you are hooking up with several different partners and not practicing safe sex, you have a greater chance of becoming infected. It’s not always easy to remember to use a condom while in the heat of the moment.  Therefore, being prepared is crucial to protecting your sexual health. Carrying condoms, is not cocky, it’s smart! It’s better to have a condom and not use it if you don’t need it, then to be caught without one when you really need it. No longer can we make assumptions about a person’s status by just eyeballing them. The tell tale signs of someone being positive rarely exist now. You won’t know just by looking at someone or assuming that because he or she is cute then they couldn’t be infected.

One good way to protect yourself, is to always use a condom when having sex. A percentage of people who become infected usually got it by another person who didn’t know they were infected. Condom use can be one of the best ways to protect yourself. Knowing your own status is also important in not only protecting yourself, but protecting your sexual partner. As noted in the article, in regards to the high infection rates in D.C., “Nearly 50 percent of people surveyed in its hardest-hit areas reported having overlapping sexual partners in the last 12 months. Most were not aware of either their own HIV status or that of their partner, and the vast majority said that they did not use a condom the last time they had sex with their main partner, even though they were aware that the relationship might not be monogamous. This deadly mix explains why a Black woman, for example, who doesn’t “sleep around” might contract HIV, while someone else engaged in frequent episodes of unprotected sex might not become infected.” Taking a HIV test is now considered one of the best prevention methods against becoming infected. Assuming that one test positive then they can get treatment and learn how to care for themselves as well as prevent infecting someone else by not spreading the virus from one person to another. And, if they test negative, then they learn to stay negative through preventive measures and condom use.

Practicing safe sex is easier said than done. It’s no easier than staying off salt, not drinking too much or watching your weight when all your favorite foods are available. These are all things that we struggle with, but not taking the proper precautions can be dangerous and in some cases deadly. Its takes practice, a concerted effort and a commitment to be healthy, the same goes for your sexual health when you practice safe sex. Make it a habit like brushing your teeth, cleaning your house or watching your weight. Keep a condom on you for those special unexpected encounters. If you are having casual sex, make sure your sexual partner(s) gets tested. Get tested with them, if it will make them feel more comfortable and less stigmatized. If they are not willing to get tested or provide information on their status, they might not be the person you wanna have sex with. Its is also important for you to be tested and provide information on your own status. To find an HIV testing location in your area, visit www.hivtest.org.

Whether it’s a holiday weekend, a hot Summer night or a beautiful Fall evening, always be prepared. High and low risk sex is all the same when it comes to HIV and STDs. Every time you have unprotected sex, you are at risk of getting infected.  It only takes one careless moment to change your life. Wrap it up and be safe.

If you are like me, you may only have one living parent or your parents might be divorced. Either way, they may be newly single, dating and engaging in sexual relationships years after being with the same partner. Many older Americans are not aware, much less concerned about practicing safe sex despite the changing sexual landscape. The development of Viagra and other ED (erectile dysfunction) drugs has made it easier for seniors to celebrate and express their sexuality, which is the upside to ED drugs. But there is a downside, as described in the article, Men of ED drugs get more STDs, “Men prescribed drugs for erectile dysfunction are two to three times more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), particularly HIV or chlamydia, than men who are not prescribed ED treatments, researchers report.”

As a result of these ED drugs, many senior men are now able to have a lot of sex with women their own age, but they are also engaging in sexual relationships with younger women, even with teenage girls, mostly in exchange for money, clothes or basic affection. In addition, older women are also having relationships with younger men, who themselves maybe offering sex in exchange for money or clothes. In this landscape of sexual freedom, most seniors don’t practice safe sex and are not familiar with HIV/AIDS awareness. According to the previously mentioned article by Katrina Woznicki from WebMD Health News, “Earlier research has found that people aged 50 and older are one-sixth less likely to use a condom and one-fifth less likely to be tested for HIV compared with people in their 20s.”

Therefore, many AIDS organizations are rushing to work with senior centers to provide safe sex information and HIV/AIDS education. But, more needs to be done as infection rates increase. A wide spread effort is needed that incorporates the church, family and healthcare providers. Doctors should be managing and assessing the sexual health risks and sexual activity of their older patients, including testing them for HIV. A similar discussion about sexual health risks can be held with the Women and Men ministries along with other church groups with the assistance of organizations like Balm in the Gilead and the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, two organizations that already have established relationships with the Black church. Finally, adult children should talk to their parents as soon or even before they start dating about the importance of condom use and the practice of safe sex. The same “sex” talk that was hard for them will also be hard for you but will be necessary in protecting your parent’s sexual health.

We can’t leave our seniors out of the discussion, when they need us the most to provide guidance, love and support. Have that talk with your mother or father,let them know you care. It will be one of the hardest talks but could be the most rewarding.

Is it too late for the Black Church to be a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS???

As we seek to engage folks on issues around sexual behavior, we thought there is no better way to talk about sex than that to start an ongoing dialogue about relationships and how we communicate with each other. In that vein, there was a story a few weeks back regarding Dwyane Wade’s wife suit against Gabrielle Union on behalf of her sons for the emotional distress their relationship put on their children and her as the estranged wife.

Should a wife/husband/partner be able to sue the other person assuming that a marriage or union is a contract between two people and another person enters to break that contract ???

Gabrielle Union