How to Be a 'Proper' Woman in the Times of HIV and AIDS

This publication does not present facts ‘out there’ or solutions for some remote others. Instead of stepping high as development and academic experts, the authors identify with other women and how as Women make meaning of proper woman-ness, respectability and personhood in the face of HIV/AIDS politics. When is one social script of being a proper Woman valid and what invalidates it? What kind of changes and norms are implicitly or explicitly promoted through development interventions? Can sexuality be separated from material, social and political realities? Why are there so many contradicting messages and forces around ARV medicines? Why is there so much silence and so much noise at the same time around HIV/AIDS? Can HIV/AIDS be a force for inclusion rather than exclusion?

This questioning quilt made up of the authors’ personal storylines, experiences of being proper (or indeed improper) women, reflections, of narratives of other women told by themselves or the men in their lives, of quotes from other books, and photos.

Through the use of personal and reflexive dialogue between a Western policy maker and an African researcher the publication aims at encouraging others to do the same. The authors do not say what is right and what is wrong, the authors say stop! Stop awhile and think about yourselves. Stop and think for yourselves.

This publication is primarily intended for those who are busy trying to bring about change but also for those who want to try and understand the changes that could be, or are, happening as a consequence of HIV/AIDS.