ABSTRACT
Woman is white, heterosexual and middle-class. She is everybody's sister, wife, and mother. 'Woman' and the related term 'everyone' have a special place in the mainstream AIDS lexicon. The pure category 'woman', unsullied by any prefix, represents 'the ordinary person' who does not use illegal drugs or engage in promiscuous or homosexual sex. She is a symbol for 'the family', the 'general population' and all the 'innocent victims' of AIDS.
