Greenblatt, Jordana
Article History
First Online: 17 August 2018
Endnotes
: Superscript removed We might characterize it as a graphic novella: about forty pages plus back matter.Superscript removed Rosengarten makes this point in “The Challenge of HIV for Feminist Theory” (2004, 213). Along with Eric Mykhalovskiy, she also associates this historical moment with “enhanc [ing] the vulnerability of HIV to [the] closure of thought and inquiry” she identifies in a turn away from discursive and cultural scholarship on HIV, effectively linking the decline in theoretical fecundity after 1996 to its role as a biomedical pivot point (Mykhalovskiy and Rosengarten 2009, 189).Superscript removed See, particularly, Law’s Desire and Governing Sexuality.Superscript removed My thanks to my reviewer for pointing out that the emphasis on anal sex in harm reduction material can inspire some people to avoid it. This is certainly true, though it seems to be a minority response. As Dowsett has observed (2009, 231), sexual behavior surveys indicate an increase in the prevalence of anal sex among MSM over the last quarter century, indicating that those scared away by its centrality to safer sex campaigns are less numerous than those who practice it. Dowsett’s focus is Australia, but the material he draws from suggests a broader Western trend.Superscript removed Mainstream/sub-cultural categorization is necessarily complicated. Kramer was a founding member of both GMHC and the AIDS activist group ACT-UP. However, he was ejected from GMHC for his views before Safer Sex Comix were published, and The Normal Heart, his play about AIDS, which was very critical of MSM sexual cultures, achieved wide-scale praise from the (straight) mainstream.Superscript removed Most criticisms of PrEP present the greatly diminished risk of seroconversion offered by prophylactic anti-HIV medication as prospectively increasing “promiscuity,” echoing conservative US objections to, for example, vaccinating girls against HPV lest it “encourage pre-marital sex.”Superscript removed The story in this issue (and a number of others) is credited to a writer who goes only by “Greg,” with no last name provided. Some of the artists are also credited by first name only. Safer Sex Comix are not paginated.Superscript removed All translations mine.Superscript removed Alex interacts with a number of other positive characters who tell him their stories.Superscript removed While I do not have space to explore the issue of risk reduction rather than risk avoidance in this article, Alex is consistently opposed to common risk reduction strategies. The comic emphasizes the risks of super- and co-infection, discouraging serosorting. A common risk reduction strategy for MSM who practice unprotected penetrative sex is strategic positioning; since the receptive partner is statistically at greater risk of infection, partners determine sexual role based on HIV status. Alex’s infection, as the penetrating partner, implicitly dismisses this strategy. The back matter of the comic emphasizes the risks of unprotected oral sex and penetrative sex with a partner whose viral load is undetectable. While Alex’s viral load eventually becomes undetectable, its effect on his risk of transmission is never discussed in the storyspace.Superscript removed As Rosengarten argues, the introduction of HIV viral load testing, with a possible result of “undetectable,” complicates such distinctions even further, as it is then possible to be HIV-positive while having no detectable virus in the peripheral bloodstream (2004, 213).