ElissaPark says:

This picture has a very strong message concerning the idea of Stigma, that we, people who are considered \"normal\", shy away from those who are \"HIV +ve\".
Due to stereotypes and society\'s views, the HIV positive are shunned, as though they somehow transmit HIV to those around them.

Posted on Feb 6, 2009 @ 9:48 AM

kkimuts11 says:

This photograph is centralized around the theme of “stigma.” The hands are allegories of two different types of people in our world; one is those who are “HIV +ve” and the other is the “normal” people. The hand which is not labeled shows discrimination; there is a notion that hanging around with some who has HIV will transmit on the virus to them. There are also many stereotypes labeled onto the HIV positive patients; the society believes that they are “bad.”

Posted on Nov 27, 2008 @ 10:35 AM

hyunnybunny says:

I think that this picture sends out a pretty strong message. A message that all HIV/AIDS victim can understand. The prejudice and segregation that these victims have to go through is represented by the hairy arm with the HIV tag on it. The woman\'s hand \"looks\" frightened by its appearance and also because it\'s different. To the female\'s arm, the hairy arm is something that is scary and digusting. Unfortunately that is the stereotypical label many people tapes on to these victims who are still human beings with emotions. They think HIV is something nasty and immediately reject those who are infected. This is a growing problem in North America.

Posted on Nov 21, 2008 @ 10:15 AM

hyunnybunny says:

I think that this picture sends out a pretty strong message. A message that all HIV/AIDS victim can understand. The prejudice and segregation that these victims have to go through is represented by the hairy arm with the HIV tag on it. The woman\'s hand \"looks\" frightened by its appearance and also because it\'s different. To the female\'s arm, the hairy arm is something that is scary and digusting. Unfortunately that is the stereotypical label many people tapes on to these victims who are still human beings with emotions. They think HIV is something nasty and immediately reject those who are infected. This is a growing problem in North America.

Posted on Nov 21, 2008 @ 10:15 AM

florachick says:

It looks as if the woman was reaching out to touch his hand, but drew back upon seeing that he had HIV. It shows that even friends and/or family may back away from you if you have this HIV due to misconceptions about it.

Posted on Nov 21, 2008 @ 9:40 AM

elrahimo says:

This photograph is interesting because it represents the stigma society places on people with HIV. The writing on the hand depicts that a label has been placed on people with HIV, and once you are stamped with this label, society will place judgement on someone with this label. Many people with HIV/AIDS have to go through their lives with this kind of discrimination.

Posted on Nov 18, 2008 @ 9:22 AM

bboldisteanu says:

This picture depicts the stigma people put around HIV very effectively. The hand on the right seems very disgusted with the hand on the left, which intentionally made hairy, so that it seems \"dirty\" . It seems as if the hand on the right is backing away, as if it could be infected if it were too close the the HIV +ive hand. I think that people need to realize that HIV is not a dirty disease, it is rather one that needs to be better understood.

Posted on Dec 13, 2007 @ 11:47 AM

bboldisteanu says:

This picture depicts the stigma people put around HIV very effectively. The hand on the right seems very disgusted with the hand on the left, which intentionally made hairy, so that it seems \"dirty\" . It seems as if the hand on the right is backing away, as if it could be infected if it were too close the the HIV +ive hand. I think that people need to realize that HIV is not a dirty disease, it is rather one that needs to be better understood.

Posted on Dec 13, 2007 @ 10:36 AM

jje1000 says:

I agree with everyone on these points as the picture has a great meaning. It truely shows the social stigma of HIV-AIDS, and how people don\'t want to be associated with anything to do with AIDS. However, if you remove the stigma, i.e. getting rid of the hair, the two hands are pretty much the same.

Posted on Dec 11, 2007 @ 9:20 AM

alicelin says:

I think this is a really good representation of the stigma as well. The \"hairy\" HIV+ hand...is sort of really low on the ground and crawling around while the non infected ..hand..is sort of upright, so it sort of shows how some people consider themselves almost on a totally different level compared to a person who is HIV+

Posted on Dec 6, 2007 @ 10:39 AM

JamesIm says:

This is an extremely good example of the stigma surrounding those with HIV/AIDS. Inherently, when one is informed of a person with a disease like HIV/AIDS, there is a different view of the person. With HIV, it could cause the person infected to be estranged and alienated while being put under more pressure and despair. However with proper education of the disease, this could be avoided altogether.

Posted on Dec 6, 2007 @ 9:33 AM

ebennett says:

This picture clearly represents the stigma around people who are HIV+. It shows that people are uncomfortable around those that are infected mainly because of misconceptions. I like the way that asibalis put it: they see the disease and not the person.

Posted on Dec 6, 2007 @ 7:45 AM