Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
Dr. Douglas McDonald (left), senior medical officer, The Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Kingston, Dr. Glenda Simms, gender expert and consultant and Ian Boyne, columnist and talk show host, panellists at Wedneday's Gleaner Public Editors' Forum, on 'Passive Women, Active Men: Sex, Gender and HIV/AIDS'. The forum was held in association with the University of the West Indies' Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Main Medical Lecture Theatre. - CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
SENIOR MEDICAl officer of The Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH), Kingston, Dr. Douglas McDonald , said on Wednesday that gender norm socialisation is fuelling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica.
"Gender has a powerful influence on sexual behaviour and gender stereotypes of passive women and active men encourage patterns of behaviour that puts both sexes at risk, compromising their sexual well-being and increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection," said Dr. McDonald at The Gleaner Public Editors' Forum on Wednesday.
The forum was held in association with the University of the West Indies' Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Main Medical Lecture Theatre under the theme, 'Passive Women, Active Men: Sex Gender and HIV/AIDS'.
Dr. McDonald said both sexes are at risk for HIV/AIDS based on the roles ascribed to them by the Jamaican society.
Women are socialised to be submissive, faithful and inferior to men; they are more likely to be raped or molested, to experience domestic violence and to be economically dependent on men, he said.
"If she appears too sexually knowledgeable, then she is not considered a lady. If her sexual behaviour is linked to pleasure rather than reproduction, she is thought to be immoral," he said.
DEPENDENT ON MEN
Because many women are economically dependent on men, he said that few of them can refuse unwanted or unprotected sex, negotiate condom use or even use contraception against their husband's or partner's wishes.
"If she attempts to, she faces the risk of abuse, of violence, of abandonment or withdrawal of financial support. For these same reasons, women accept their partner's extramarital affairs, though this places them at increased risk," Dr. McDonald said.
Men, he said, are expected to be active, dominant, competitive, reckless and risk takers.
"They must be seen as strong and virile and by implication, promiscuous. Having many sexual partners is part and parcel of manhood, despite the number of times he is infected with an STI (sexually-transmitted infection) and ... the number of persons that he may infect," he said.
