ABSTRACT
When someone mentions AIDS, what comes to mind? A global epidemic? A terrible
AIDS is all these things to people. “AIDS,” notes George Whitmore (1988), “is a
mirror, reflecting every individual’s deepest fears. AIDS is a magnet, indiscriminately
attracting all manner of prejudices. AIDS is a juggernaut cutting a wide swath across the
nation.” AIDS has come to symbolize all manner of things, calling up prejudice in some
individuals, accessing fears in others, and representing, at some level, our era’s
recognition that infectious diseases are not things of the past but the price we pay for
living in a vital, constantly changing world.
