Colored Blocks: Notions of Race and Space in a Chicago Neighborhood

Abstract

This thesis shows the entwinement of gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS in Ramaswikana, Limpopo, South Africa. The inhabitants of Ramaswikana are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS due to their perspectives, behaviour and discourse around HIV/AIDS, which are constructed by their politico-economic and socio-cultural context. The socio-cultural context is formulated from the Pedi culture and Christian religion, whereas the politico-economic factors include a history of Apartheid, high poverty and a lack of jobs. By taking a gender perspective in combination with a medical anthropological approach this complex social framework for HIV/AIDS was researched. The researches focussed on the power relations and stigmatization present around the topics of gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS in Ramaswikana. By showing the entwinements, this thesis argues for a gender sensitive approach when studying the discourse, behaviour and stigmatization surrounding HIV/AIDS in a rural village in South Africa on the border with Botswana.