Gay men and HIV/AIDS risk management

This article presents a framework through which changes in the management o f HIV/AIDS risks among British gay men may be conceptualized. Three distinc t periods of risk management are outlined. First, a 'confused' period in wh ich the aetiology of AIDS and its cultural impact were poorly understood. S econd, a 'somatic' period is described in which discourses linking HIV risk to the body became prevalent (following the 'discovery' of the HIV virus). Finally a third, 'technological' period is described which stresses the im pact of recent social and medical technologies in the contemporary manageme nt of both HIV and AIDS risks. The privatization, fluidity and development of HIV and AIDS 'risks' are discussed with particular reference to notions of surveillance medicine, processes of 'othering' and the attribution of bo th responsibility and blame.