Abstract
D.Phil.
The aim of this study is to critically analyse representations of gender and sex in
newspaper reports on HIV and AIDS in the hope of improving messaging around HIV
and AIDS. Within the scope of this study observations are made at the conclusion of each
case study so as to inform prevention campaigns and media on more appropriate ways of
representing gender and sex and HIV and AIDS. These observations serve as guidelines
to inform journalists and civil society on how better to message HIV and AIDS and
sexuality. Mutual recognition is used as the theoretical standpoint for understanding
sexuality by emphasizing the premise of respect for self and other. Mutual recognition is
used as the critical lens to rethink gender beyond constructions of masculinity and
femininity, race, class and sexuality; looking for the moments and opportunities for
recognition between both masculine and feminine subjects as well as for narratives on
sameness and difference beyond race, class and sexuality. Mutual recognition is also the
way forward for resisting phallogocentrism and shifting representation away from the
workings of male hegemony. The theoretical framework used in this study is based on
feminist psychoanalysis and feminist media interpretation. Special mention is given to the
work of Jessica Benjamin, Donna Haraway and Jane Flax; on account of their reception
of Freudian theory of the oedipal complex showing ways of rethinking the oedipal
complex and gender differentiation. Foucault’s work on representation shows how we
can rethink language to better serve the notion of mutual recognition, placing importance
on concepts such as respect, responsibility and caring for self and other in ways that go
beyond race/ethnicity, class, sex/gender or sexuality. Eros and thanatos (life and death
drives) is nuanced to highlight how jouissance or the ‘little death’ (orgasm) is a way of
resolving the tension between these opposing drives by shifting discourse away from sex
and taboo or death towards sex and pleasure and thus emphasizing eros and mutual
recognition. The study is concluded with a set of guidelines for representing gender and
sex in relation to HIV and AIDS. It is significant to note that this is a qualitative study
that, which makes use of textual analysis and seeks to offer a measure of transparency
and accountability to the interpretation of selected texts.