In addition, Halperin (1999) found that AIDS prevention education aimed at heterosexuals continued to address vaginal-penile intercourse when heterosexual anal intercourse is responsible for more cases of heterosexual AIDS outbreaks. Thus, the fact that AIDS is a condition of the homosexual or heterosexual participating in vaginal-penile intercourse is a misconception that perpetuates stereotypes. Furthermore, Chin (2007) found that a person's number of sexual partners is not enough to create "epidemic sexual HIV transmission" (p. 163). In addition, Chin (2007) argues that many organizations believe a prevention program is necessary, or HIV will quickly spread into general populations where its numbers are "currently low" (p. 163). Chin's (2007) argument, however, is that this is a misconception, and there is no reason to believe that AIDS will break into non-affected populations. Thus, many statements that perpetuate stereotypes about HIV are actually misconceptions, proved incorrect by the scientific literature.
A great number of people have formed these misconceptions because they are the ones most perpetuated by those who fear AIDS and its implications. Like the audience of the Oprah show, many people have developed the misconception that AIDS can be spread in ways other than the sharing of blood and sexual fluids because of the few cases where the conditions have been right to allow an easier transmission (Schoub 1999, p. 92). Schoub (1999) writes that these incidents receive "inordinate publicity because of the abject fear of AIDS" (p. 92). This media coverage, paired with individuals' fear of the disease, has caused the misconception.
The situation in which large percentages of the public have come to accept stereotypical misconceptions about the AIDS virus is remarkably similar to the case in which large sections of the public formed misconceptions about its transmission. In both...
For instance, homosexuals have actually dominated the AIDS epidemic (Schoub 1999, p.96). Schoub (1999), however, writes that this is because AIDS is most closely linked with anal intercourse (p. 96). Many people bought into this stereotype because the amount of anal sex occurring in heterosexual couples was underestimated as the practice of anal sex among heterosexuals is taboo (Halperin 1999, p. 717). Furthermore, Chin (2007) argues that the misconceptions regarding transmission to unaffected populations and the perpetuation of prevention techniques that do not work could be believed by a large population because this is the belief needed to fuel the efforts of non-profit and government organizations tasked with the prevention and eradication of AIDS.
Thus, not only are a number of commonly believed tenants about AIDS misconceptions, but also those misconceptions were able to be easily believed by large segments of the public both because they were based in truth and because institutions allowed for easy belief. The misconception regarding the transmission of AIDS was allowed to spread based on the sociological concept of the fear of AIDS; AIDS-related stereotypes are perpetuated by what is socially considered taboo sex practices; misconceptions regarding prevention and proliferation are perpetuated by institutions relying on this data for effectiveness. Thus, the perpetuation of misconceptions regarding AIDS still occurs quite widely in the United States. Though proven incorrect by the scientific evidence, these misconceptions can be widely observed in public knowledge. Many are able to believe and perpetuate these misconceptions because of interpersonal dynamics. They recognize a misconception as an expansion of the truth. In addition, the social concepts such as the fear of AIDS and taboo nature of certain sexual…
