"Anthropology: Glimpses of AIDS and Male Prostitution"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Anthropology: Glimpses of AIDS and Male Prostitution"

Science News (12/15/90) Vol. 138, No. 24, P. 380
Bower, Bruce

Abstract: In-depth interviews with 14 male prostitutes and 11 of their clients over a 13-month period indicate that hustlers risk HIV infection mainly through IV drug use and unpaid same-sex encounters, D. Scott Wilson of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque reported at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in New Orleans. Male prostitutes often believed that they could tell someone with HIV by obvious physical symptoms, while their clients held more realistic views of AIDS and safe sex. Wilson said "hustlers" often have unpaid anal sex with other men without condoms, many use IV drugs, and many probably have HIV. The culture of street hustlers is largely unexplored, Wilson said, and many evolve elaborate lies and wishful fantasies about themselves and offer misinformation about their colleagues. Richard G. Parker of the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said social workers can train some male prostitutes to pass on AIDS information to others. Education, he said, requires targeting specific groups.

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