ABSTRACT
HIV/AIDS education and prevention is complex because it touches on an arena which is largely unexpressed, but where people make so much meaning. Foucault’s suggestion that sex is over-reified in Western culture captures the reality in which sexually transmitted disease has to be considered. Whilst sex is regulated through its sites of construction, the larger social formations of economy, education, criminality and public health (Foucault 1986), Vance (1984) suggests that sexuality is an unpromising domain for regulation. The environment we grow up in, and parental mores and values, create a sense of belonging, constitute our world, and often become our own values, even if constantly refashioned, rarely articulated, and sometimes rejected. We create imaginary worlds and myths to deal with the unknown and unknowable, and sexuality is a central part of this. Reproduction, creation, existence and desire are fragile arenas. The mechanics of the sexual act may often be separated from these symbolic worlds, and a heavy-handed approach to sexual education that fails to recognise this will not succeed.
