This thesis examines the psycho-social consequences of hiv. The majority of those infected with hiv are men who have sex with men (MSM). The three homosexual men interviewed for the thesis recount their experiences with hiv from the period before they were diagnosed and throughout the years they have been living with the virus. The primary literature and theory included in the thesis are those of the philosopher Michel Foucault, sociologist Erving Goffman and gender researcher Judith Butler. In regard to discourse theory, the thesis primarily focuses on the works of Michel Foucault. The aim of identifying sexuality as a construct is also heavily influenced by his theoretical work and the same is the case in describing pathology and normativity. When studying norms and stigma, a variety of theories from Goffman, Foucault and Butler are combined. The project examines various discourses that the three interviewees articulate, as well as the positions and narratives, norms and stigma, which emerge in their stories. Furthermore, discussions of how the three men construct the concept of being sick as an anomaly are included in the thesis. The presented empirical material illustrates, through careful analysis, issues of considerable significance; the interviewees construct hiv infection as something deviant and in opposition to what would be a socially constructed concept of normality. This conclusion is a central theme in the thesis. Hiv is constructed as “a disease, you can live with but which inevitably changes you”. This suggests that the hiv diagnosis is transformed from a death sentence to a chronic condition? to which the carrier of the virus will have to adjust his life, his sex life and his personality.
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