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This paper analyses how TIME magazine represents sub-Saharan African women in its coverage of HIV/AIDS. As rates of infection escalate across the continent, researchers are increasingly emphasising the need to understand the socioeconomic and cultural contexts that make women particularly vulnerable to infection. Yet popular media representations of AIDS continue to rely on older colonial imageries of Africa as the feminised, diseased 'dark continent'. This article identifies three major themes in TIME's representation of sub-Saharan African women and HIV/AIDS: the metaphor of Africa as a woman in crisis, the construction of women as the means of transmission, and the engendered nature of the debate about the impact of international development policies. It is argued that the reliance on familiar cultural narratives often obscures the epidemiological, economic and cultural realities within which sub-Saharan women live. Not merely a consequence of unprotected sex, AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is also the result of global economics and politics, reflecting the inequities between the West and Africa, male and female, white and black. The paper concludes with a call for further research on the role of representations of HIV/AIDS and its actual routes of transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The HIV epidemic has had a profound impact on people's everyday life in most African societies. A large proportion of all new HIV infections involves young people between 15 and 25 years. The objective of this paper is to explore local moral worlds of young people in Bobo‐Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, and discuss how the HIVS epidemic affects their reflections on their everyday life and their perceptions of sexual relationships. Based on anthropological fieldwork, including focus‐group discussions, in‐depth interviews and participant observation, a total of 57 young people between 15 and 25 years were followed over a 3‐month period. Using the notion of ‘lifestyle’, the paper shows how structural factors of unemployment and poverty paired with global discourse on AIDS present the young people with frustrations and quandaries in relation to their hopes and images of love, faithfulness and modern living. The data shows that the HIV epidemic contributes to and accelerates their feeling of living in a risk society and of being at risk. In order to cope with these uncertainties and contingencies, local discourses of trust and fidelity become extremely important and to most young people HIV prevention is synonymous with finding a faithful partner and/or using condoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings, shares the methodology and outlines the benefits of a multi-country participatory research process on a unique data source: stories about HIV and AIDS written by young Africans. Between 1997 and 2005, more than 105,000 young people from 37 countries participated in competitions inviting them to think up storylines for short fiction films to educate their communities about HIV and AIDS as part of the 'Scenarios from Africa' communication process. The winning stories were selected by juries made up of: PLWH and other local specialists in prevention, treatment and care; former contest winners and other young people; and communication specialists, including the top African directors, who went on to transform the ideas into short films. In 2005, over 200 jurors selected 30 winners from the 22,894 stories submitted that year by 63,327 contest participants. After reading around 200 stories each and participating in the selection process, jurors compiled their observations and recommendations. The jurors' findings reveal notable persistent shortcomings in existing communication efforts and identify key emerging needs. In some areas, they show remarkable consistency across the continent. Jurors view this as a powerful needs assessment, networking and capacity building process that motivates action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]