How AIDS Changed Gay life in AmericaWritten by David F. Duncan
Victory Deferred: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America. By John-Manuel Andriote. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999. $30.00 (hardcover). Reviewed by: David F. Duncan The author states that this book will examine "both 'big picture' and its finer details in considering many ways AIDS affected nation's hardest hit community, gay men." He succeeds in presenting many telling details of that impact. We are introduced to personalities, informed about critical events, and acquainted with controversies that might have lain forgotten in old newspaper archive or fading memories if they werent collected in this book. My only criticism of this rich body of material is that it is poorly organized, especially with regard to chronology. The events covered in a single paragraph may skip forward and backward over a decade. Where author may disappoint reader is in his attempt to present "big picture." His historical claims read more like sound bites than serious analytic conclusions. When he asserts that AIDS activism brought about "the transformation of a disorganized collection of despised individuals into a self-affirming community and a full-fledged civil rights movement" and on a later page that "AIDS brought gay community as a community out of closet," he seems to totally overlook gay activism that was well under way before recognition of AIDS. His thesis is rooted in a picture of 1970s as an era characterized almost solely by gays closeted in a ghetto where unending promiscuous sexual activity continued until AIDS ended "party." This sort of broad sweep painting of all gays of 70s with same brush is poor reporting. Though author certainly has no such intent, it could even be taken as support of sort of puritanical agenda that sees AIDS as deserved outcome of an era of moral laxness, even as Gods judgement on homosexuals. It is true, of course, that those who were involved in "party" were at greatest risk but, as we all know, many who were not promiscuous became infected. Nor has promiscuity disappeared from either gay or heterosexual communities as a result of AIDS epidemic.
| | Waiting Room Boredom RemediesWritten by Deborah Shelton
Publishing Guidelines: Feel free to publish following article in its entirety in your ezine, website, or print newsletter. The resource box must be included with an active link. Please send a courtesy copy of publication in which article appears to: deborah@fiveminuteparent.com Word wrap to 60, (277 words)Waiting Room Boredom Remedies By Deborah Shelton Going to doctor is no fun--not for adults and especially not for kids. Not only is impending meeting with doctor a little scary, but also time spent in waiting room can be excruciating for young children. Here are a few fun and super simple ways to beat waiting room boredom blues. * Waiting rooms are filled with magazines. Use this time to help children practice their reading skills. Have your child read headlines and text aloud to you (not too loud!). * Play a simple game of Tic-Tac-Toe! Have a tournament: best 3 out of 5 games wins...or depending on how long you're waiting for doctor, it could be best 5 out of 7, or more.
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