4 ms·

You don't see the ridiculousness of blaming the spread of HIV to Europe on the promiscuity of African women and not the British sailors who came half way around

by treis 4y ago

You don't see the ridiculousness of blaming the spread of HIV to Europe on the promiscuity of African women and not the British sailors who came half way around the world to have sex with them? That said, google returns no hits for either of these statements outside of articles repeating the claim from TFA so I'd be wary of the accuracy of the quote.

prepend 4y ago
This is not blaming the spread on anyone. It’s describing how HIV spread. There’s no full knowledge of how it spread from Africa to Europe, the US, and the rest of the world. There are a few accounts of real people, like the referenced sailor that spread. There’s actually a pretty good dramatization from HBO in the 90s called “And the Band Played On.” The lecturer referenced in the article is an HIV virologist researcher.
- treis 4y ago
  >This is not blaming the spread on anyone Yes it is. Specifically on the promiscuity of the African woman that allowed it to spread to Europe.
  - prepend 4y ago
    That is a factor. One of many. It was important in understanding the origins and how it originally spread. Especially since originally it was considered only a gay disease and knowing that it was spread originally by women to straight sailors is important to know. The promiscuous part was important because it was many partners that allowed HIV to spread. If people were monogamous then it wouldn’t have spread as much. This is not assigning blame specifically. It’s discussing the origin of a disease. The disease very likely would have spread in different ways as it’s hard to know what would have happened. But this vector occurred. Would you rather it not be known and discussed?
    - treis 4y ago
      >This is not assigning blame specifically. It’s discussing the origin of a disease. If you point at a character flaw and say that it allowed to spread a disease that's assigning blame. Not assigning blame would use neutral language and sound something like "British sailors spread HIV to Europe after contracting it from African prostitutes". >Would you rather it not be known and discussed? This is so slimey. Nobody is saying it should not be discussed and you know that.
      - prepend 4y ago
        First, promiscuous is not a character flaw. Second, the promiscuity is an important factor in the spread. So it’s useful information to understand what happened to defeat future diseases. People should be treated with compassion and shouldn’t be assigned blame for things. But if a characteristic is relevant, it should be shared. I meant that would you prefer that we not discuss how the women who were part of the early spread were promiscuous? Or that we leave out the transmission chain?
        treis 4y ago
        >First, promiscuous is not a character flaw. Call a woman in your life promiscuous and let us know how it goes
      - boppo1 4y ago
        >character flaw the other commenter was not insulting the African women. You are the one connoting promiscuity with negativity.

by treis 4y ago

prepend 4y ago

This is not blaming the spread on anyone. It’s describing how HIV spread. There’s no full knowledge of how it spread from Africa to Europe, the US, and the rest of the world. There are a few accounts of real people, like the referenced sailor that spread. There’s actually a pretty good dramatization from HBO in the 90s called “And the Band Played On.” The lecturer referenced in the article is an HIV virologist researcher.

treis 4y ago
>This is not blaming the spread on anyone Yes it is. Specifically on the promiscuity of the African woman that allowed it to spread to Europe.
- prepend 4y ago
  That is a factor. One of many. It was important in understanding the origins and how it originally spread. Especially since originally it was considered only a gay disease and knowing that it was spread originally by women to straight sailors is important to know. The promiscuous part was important because it was many partners that allowed HIV to spread. If people were monogamous then it wouldn’t have spread as much. This is not assigning blame specifically. It’s discussing the origin of a disease. The disease very likely would have spread in different ways as it’s hard to know what would have happened. But this vector occurred. Would you rather it not be known and discussed?
  - treis 4y ago
    >This is not assigning blame specifically. It’s discussing the origin of a disease. If you point at a character flaw and say that it allowed to spread a disease that's assigning blame. Not assigning blame would use neutral language and sound something like "British sailors spread HIV to Europe after contracting it from African prostitutes". >Would you rather it not be known and discussed? This is so slimey. Nobody is saying it should not be discussed and you know that.
    - prepend 4y ago
      First, promiscuous is not a character flaw. Second, the promiscuity is an important factor in the spread. So it’s useful information to understand what happened to defeat future diseases. People should be treated with compassion and shouldn’t be assigned blame for things. But if a characteristic is relevant, it should be shared. I meant that would you prefer that we not discuss how the women who were part of the early spread were promiscuous? Or that we leave out the transmission chain?
      - treis 4y ago
        >First, promiscuous is not a character flaw. Call a woman in your life promiscuous and let us know how it goes
    - boppo1 4y ago
      >character flaw the other commenter was not insulting the African women. You are the one connoting promiscuity with negativity.