Secrets, Taboos and Private Lives in Jamaica
Kwame Dawes
HIV/AIDS is a disease contracted in the most private of spaces; one that comes with a sense of betrayal, failure and attendant anxiety because somehow, a social contract between two people, a contract that is supposed to give pleasure and security, has produced death or its specter.
In a society like Jamaica, any talk about HIV/AIDS is going to be about secrets, about taboos, and about the private lives of people. I was talking to people about sex. I was talking to people about their mortality and its meaning. Many of them had lived with the disease for years, and others had learned they were infected a few months before.
This crisis has shown us the challenges we face as a culture in Jamaica – the way people behave sexually: the penchant for multiple partners, the disregard for safe sex practices, the highly sexualized society rooted in a deeply conservative cultural ethos, the ubiquitous reminder of homophobia at all levels of society, and so much more.
At the same time, the crisis has brought out the resourcefulness of Jamaicans, their generosity of spirit to help and support those who are suffering, the strength of character and wonderful capacity for humor and stoic resolve in the face of serious challenges, and the power of community. The story of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica is as much about those who are living with the disease as it is those who care for them. At the end of the day, all the stories become deeply personal.
