The Wisdom of Whores by Elizabeth Pisani - Book Report/Review Example

The Wisdom of Whores Spread of HIV has imposed a huge amount of stress and has taken the shape of epidemic since its detection. Sex workers often act as the sole people who channelize the endemic disease based on the development of the overall programs and create a further challenge for managing the overall needs of the program. The different plans and developmental issues identified by the government are solely associated with the development of public and hardly does any governmental plan cover the plight of the sex workers to prevent the spread of the disease. Identifiably the overall needs of the system are noted to be failing based on the diverse needs of the development that is to be initiated into the system ensuring effectiveness for preventing the spread of the epidemic disease. Chapter 1: Cooking up an Epidemic AIDS or HIV has been an epidemic disease during the middle years of the 20th century. With the increased amount of consciousness, people across the globe began getting inclined towards developing the health conditions of the people within the global domain. UNESCO also started incorporating the different programs that would be safeguarding the needs of women and ensuring the effectiveness of the system. Based on the different modes of the sex practices among people within the society, it became difficult for the organisations to plan an exact amount of program that would initiate its overall performances. The epidemic spread of HIV could not be nullified with the changed social settings and development of the same needed dedicated initiatives such as for other epidemic diseases during the earlier days (Stine, 2011). As Stine (2011) notes, “…Human populations have been devastated by pandemics before, and have survived. Some populations have even evolved genetically as a result” (p. 2). The major problems that were faced by the researchers preventing from the spread of such diseases was the different status of sex workers are also noted to be leveraging a significant amount of distress within the different levels of the sex workers and the national status they are provided with. This is creating a huge amount of distress on the different ideas of the sex and the other aspects related with the same. According to Stine (2011), “…Almost three decades since being discovered, HIV/AIDS remains a great challenge to public health, human rights, development, and national security” (p. 17). The different social statuses of the people who are associated with the different type of sexual practices are also noted to be having considerable impacts on the life of the people. The uncontrollable situation that is thus faced due to the different status of the sex workers within the society is creating distress and making it difficult for the organisations to control the spread of the endemic disease i.e. HIV (Pisani, 2008). Chapter 2: Landscapes of Desire There are different notions prominent within the domain of the different types of sex workers who are working at different nations. The review of the Indonesian brothels reflects the same story that was prevalent within the other South Asian countries. The plea was same as the different people working within the sex market of Indonesia faced greater risk of being exposed to the disease depending on the low use of condoms and general awareness among the people. The parallel intake of drugs was also leading to the spread of the disease and acting as a catalyst to the risk of the epidemic spread of AIDS. Correspondingly, the absence of a particular flow or chart of processes that was indulged with the vulnerability of spreading the disease, the epidemic spread of AIDS became uncontrollable. In the words of Pisani (2008), “The piety boom did not stop men buying sex, but it did provide Indonesia’s populist politicians with a wonderful new Grand Gesture” (p. 50). On a contrary Stine (2011), commented that the “The origin of HIV remains a mystery and may never be proven to everyone’s satisfaction. Some of the scientific theories include the introduction of HIV into humans through (a) the use of HIV-contaminated polio vaccine from the late 1950s into the early 1960s, or (b) the worldwide introduction of disposable plastic syringes that were used and reused and reused until they were too short and blunt for sharpening” (p. 40). However, there was a huge belief that networks that have been channelizing the domain of the sex workers within the nation triggered the spread of the disease to this endemic extent, the situation has evolved to be voluptuous making it difficult for the health departments to control (Pisani, 2008). Commendably the tendency among men to use condoms with girlfriend, even when the movement of the men as well as women are unknown to each other is quite hindering. This leads to a further exposure to the disease and makes the system more complex to be dealt in a far more effective manner. With the changing situations of the society, the system of practising sex among different genders based on their lust for heterosexual or homosexual relationships, a certain amount of control could be initiated on the disease (Pisani, 2008). Chapter 3: The Honesty Box The concept of the honesty box popped with the development of notions among people to miss calculations or rather wrongly collect information about the sex workers. The survey dealing with pleas of sex workers were often quite complex as people hardly discussed about their erotic sex lives and disclose the facts underlying the same. Accordingly, Pisani (2008) notes - “And indeed, if I were to ask you whether you prefer to be the insertive or receptive partner in anal sex, or whether you’ve had a foul-smelling vaginal discharge in the last year, you might think I was getting a little personal” (p. 67). This makes the situations a complex scenario as the improper information makes the task a complex one and affects the lifestyle of the sex workers at large (Pisani, 2008). However, when the question is placed in a manner that reflects on the sex workers work asking about “how many clients she/he has” the same is reflected in a different way by Pisani (2008), where the author mentions - “When I ask Nana how many guys she sold sex to last week, it’s like asking my plumber how many leaks he has fixed” (p. 67). A huge section of the process associated with educating the society undergoing the sex activities are noted to be creating a huge amount of distress among the society and affecting the spread of the knowledge to take preventive care from the spread of the disease. The casual approaches of the people towards the NGO’s those indulged into spreading the consciousness associated with the needs of developing preventive measures and blocking the rapid spread of the disease are creating distress within the effectiveness of the integrated program. Correspondingly, the misconceptions that were attached with the different essence of the spread of the disease is noted to creating a further distress within the domain. This could be largely identified as Stine (2011) comments that “It is believed that eventually almost everyone who is correctly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS will die from AIDS. But not all who become HIV-infected will progress to AIDS” (p. 48). This casual and improper attitude of the people towards the attributes associated with HIV is noted to be affecting the overall system and creating a hindering attitude towards the spread of the disease (Pisani, 2014). Chapter 4: The Naked Truth Africa is one such country, which is one of the naked examples of failure of the programs associated with limiting the spread of the epidemic disease. Many authors and researchers were of the notion that sex is an outcome of passion, lust, vanity as well as anger and hence, could not be anticipated and prevented on the basis of forecasts. In the similar context, many nations have asserted the notion that inequality and poverty leads to situations of compulsion for people to practice sex as a source of their income (Pisani, 2014). In the words of Pisani (2008), “They showed that the poorer a country is, the more HIV there is. It was especially true where there was a wide gap between the rich minority and the poor majority”. Certain precautions and knowledge about the disease is also likely to affect the overall spread of the disease and prevent from minimising the instances of risk. The different pleasures associated with having sex among the people and the uncanny instances associated with the diverse mentalities of people towards approaching for having sex even leads to vulnerabilities of the disease. Irrespective of the nations and regions of the globe, HIV has been spreading through the sex workers, as they were the ones having maximum exposure to the larger sections of the people within the society. Stine (2011) thus commented that “…Between the years 1981 and 1987, when hundreds of thousands in the United States and millions worldwide had already become HIV infected and many thousands had already died, there were no effective drug therapies against HIV” (p. 66). Hence, by the time an effective system could be initiated the spread of the disease was noted to be maximum, which created a further distress into the system preventing the effectiveness of the measures. Notably, the programs could not be effective without the consciousness among people to practice the same being taught, which created a huge amount of distress among the people and further affected the strategic measures that was being taken to prevent such practices (Pisani, 2008). Chapter 5: Sacred Cows With the discoveries prominent reflecting on the fact that the level of interventions that were successful within the societal level in the developed countries failed to meet with the needs of the people suffering from HIV in the developing and underdeveloped nations. Testing has been a complex task to assess the exact figure associated with the disease and is going to affect the spread of the same. With a huge number of people into the business and conducting business from the diverse modes and channels, it is a compulsion to deal with the endemic spread of the disease across the society and in different sections of the globe (Pisani, 2008). Correspondingly, Pisani (2008) asserts, “One, as we’ve just seen, is that HIV testing exposes people to stigma, so routine testing is dubious and compulsory testing is evil.” (p. 109) Parallel to the above stated views, Stine (2011) comments that with the progress of the immune system, a better resistance could be developed. In the words of Stine (2011), “…In contrast, it has been shown that although the immune systems of most people initially produce neutralizing HIV antibodies, the continued evolution of HIV in their bodies results in a series of mutant HIV that are not efficiently neutralized or cancelled via antibody response” (p. 114). On an ethical ground, testing people suffering from the spread of the disease is considered to be unethical, as disclosing the disease and the people within a public was not legal in nations. However, the testing conducted by certain nations as a forceful effect has proved to be a positive move towards eradicating the spread of the epidemic. With a close disclosure of the effect of the huge spread associated with the needs of the disease is also noted to be creating a huge amount of impacts on the social life of the people (Pisani, 2014). Chapter 6: Articles of Faith Different social dogmas and cultural blockages are acting as distresses within the social domains those have been affecting the lifestyle of people and creating a blockage for the development of preventive programs to eradicate the spread of the disease. Correspondingly, with the changing social status of women and the progression in the field of science it has been evident that the complexities associated with the spread of the disease is enhancing over the years. Nations across the globe had been adapting the preventive measures for developing the overall attributes of the disease and taking preventive care for the same. Conversely, with increased freedom of women and progression of drugs, the societal changes have been leading to increased amount of premarital sex among women. This changed picture of lust among women is noted to be steering a further positive approach towards the spread of the disease (Pisani, 2008). Thus Pisani (2008) states, “Young female lust has been dealt with in many societies by early marriage–the risk of pregnancy a very strong deterrent to any premarital experimentation” (p. 126). With increase in the instances of unprotected sex, the development of the programs and the overall status is also getting affected at large and further influencing the different needs of the society. The increasing craze among women to lead their life based on the overall needs of development and progression are noted to be acting as evil for creating an adversity of the overall demand of the software (Pisani, 2008). However, notions that people die of AIDs needs to be changed and the misconceptions associated with the disease needs to be reviewed. Rather Stine (2011) draws the view towards the notion that “weakened immune system, such as an individual with HIV disease. The infections they cause are known as opportunistic infections (OIs)” (p. 131). This reflects on the fact, several opportunistic infections that can affect the weak immune system that has been a reason of HIV and further affect the different instances of the disease. The author even comments that the overall facility and support of the nations developing the instances of exposure to the different diseases must be increased so that an effectiveness of the system could be ensured. Rather, these strategic changes must be initiated for preventing exposure to diseases. In the words of Stine (2011), “…While some pneumonias and types of diarrhea can be specified, others, such as extrapulmonary tuberculosis, cytomegalovirus infections, cryptococcal meningitis, and systemic infections such as histoplasmosis, toxoplasmosis, microsporidiosis, and nocardiosis” (p. 133). Chapter 7: HIV Shoots Up Human trafficking has been creating a huge amount of distress on the overall prominence of being exposed to HIV/AIDS. This could be broadly identified because of the fact that these people are even exposed with the needs of the progression that could be acting as a catalyst by the impact of the disease through sharing needles among drug addicts or forcing people into the practice of sex. The situations was even worse with the spread of the disease among the prison dwellers at Indonesian prisons (Pisani, 2008). As Pisani (2008) asserts, “At first we just assumed that HIV was rising in prison because HIV was rising in drug injectors, and drug injectors were going to prison” (p. 157). The spread of the disease is noted to be creating a huge amount of impact on the overall lifestyle of the people. This gave rise to an alarming situation as the spread of the disease was completely uncountable and was noted to be having a drastic impact on the life of the prison dwellers in Indonesia. With the increased number of people getting addicted to drugs and sharing needles are the ones most vulnerable to the disease. This is further paving ways for the spread of the disease in multitude and affecting the overall lifestyle of the people who are exposed to the same (Pisani, 2008). The instances that HIV exposure was far more less effective to the people who were suffering from AIDS and made it ineffective for people who have been in need of the actual diagnosis. In this regard Stine (2011), puts light towards the fact that “…At one end of the spectrum are those infected with HIV who look, feel, and are per-fectly healthy. At the opposite end are those with advanced HIV disease (symp-tomatic AIDS) who are visibly sick and require significant medical and psychosocial support” (p. 154). Chapter 8: Ants in a Sugar Bowl HIV has risen as an endemic disease and has been attracting different segments of the globe to take up measures that would successfully meet with the diverse needs of the society and enhance the effectiveness of the preventive care program. The lack of proper funding has also been acting as a significant need for developing the different underlined attributes aligned with sex practices (Pisani, 2008). In the words of Pisani (2008), “Around 76 per cent of new infections still happen in commercial sex but 99 per cent of funding goes to ‘general population’ interventions such as micro-credit schemes and workplace outreach programmes” (p.174). The era where commercial sex was a main recourse spreading the instances of this vulnerable disease, the funding available for the same is acting as a huge amount of blockage for the overall programs (Pisani, 2008). Correspondingly, to prevent the spread of the disease within a specific area or a nation, the detailed understanding should be developed about how the disease has been spreading over the years. Stine (2011) comments in this regards that “To understand how an infectious disease can spread or remain established in a population, investigators must consider the relationship between an infectious disease agent and its host population” (p. 176). It has been further observed that the funding programs are mostly associated with the needs of the public instead of being aligned with the needs of the commercial sex workers. With the global health and funding associations, taking up the agenda of the HIV programs are noted to be affecting the overall social status of the people and creating a further impact on the spread of the disease. Chapter 9: Full Circle The overall practices being adopted for the disease is noted to be quite in vain as the overall development within the field could hardly be noticed and any evolution was hardly evident. The projections of development and sustainability could not be ascertained with the use of the different programs that has already been operating within the domain of the practices associated with sex preventions (Pisani, 2008). According to Pisani (2008), “These things happen in all types of health and development work. They happen more often in HIV programmes simply because there is more ideology, more money, more ants in the sugar-bowl” (p. 194). Programs those were aligned with the system reflected on the development of the projects associated with the preventive care for spread of disease, which made its movements implemented under vague and useless scenarios (Pisani, 2008). The progresses made within the system were also noted to be creating a huge impact on the overall lifestyle and affected by the vague and translucent decisions heading towards no concrete outcomes (Pisani, 2008). Notably, despite of the different integrated programs projecting about preventive steps against spread of AIDS/HIV “both institutional and street levels, a large number of gay males, drug abusers, and heterosexuals continue to participate in unsafe sexual practices” (Stine, 2011, p. 235). Final Reflection Portion The review of the book reflected on the fact that the different practices associated with HIV development provided. This helped me gain a better insight about the confused practices that was heading to a state of no concrete plans and ideas. These unplanned situations and approaches created a larger amount of distress and affected the overall plans those were being implemented into the system. I have understood the lack of proper planning and development within the system that has been affecting the lifestyle of sex workers. According to my understanding, unprotected sex and uncontrolled attitudes among the sex workers was acting as a catalyst for spreading the disease. Correspondingly, the development of the plans were mostly focused keeping in mind the general public who are less actively exposed to the instances of the disease than the commercial sex providers. As per my understanding, the development of the programs must be creating a huge amount of impact on the different lifestyles led by people depending on the practices among the different types of sex workers including the homosexual relationships. From an overall understanding, it can be concluded that these planned approaches are going to enhance the prominence of the system and develop the transparency based on the effective needs of preventing the spread of HIV disease. References Pisani, E. (2008). The wisdom of whores: Bureaucrats, brothels, and the business of AIDS. London: Granta Publications. Pisani, E. (2014). Indonesia Etc. London: Granta Books. Stine, G. J. (2011). Aids Update 2012. Michigan: McGraw-Hill Education. Read More