Entre el saber y el actuar: relaciones de género y prevención del VIH-Sida en mujeres de sectores populares de zona sur de la ciudad de Bs. As.

Abstract

We present several results of an etnographic study among women from 15 to 35 years old belonging to popular sectors that live in the southern area of the City of Buenos Aires. This area presents the highest numbers of Hiv-AIDS cases and high levels of poverty, degradation and urban violence. Our results show that between " knowing about" and "behaving" there exist complex processes in which we find the operation of stigmatized and gendered representations of Hiv-AIDS as "others problem" and social and sexual relations crossed by gender stereotypes and roles. We believe that the plarming of prevention must take as a point of departure the consideration of global social practices and, specifically, the caracteristics of gender relations. Moreover, the increasing precarization of social life intensifies poor women’s vulnerability and social interaction contexts that appeal to the socio-economic and symbolic rol played by women.