Sheila M. Bunting

Sources of stigma associated with women with HIV.

In the United States many women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are poor women of African American or Hispanic American descent. Women with HIV have experienced many forms of oppression and discrimination and have been blamed as the victims of HIV and labeled as drug users, prostitutes, and carriers of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). They have been stigmatized for their gender, their sexuality, their minority status, and their poverty, as well as for their HIV-positive status. Stigma theory is used in this article to explore the sources of stigma associated with this vulnerable group of clients.

APPLICATION OF FEMINIST THEORY IN NURSING RESEARCH: THE CASE OF WOMEN AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE

Researchers have provided evidence that women recover from and live with heart disease in very distinct ways from men. The challenge for researchers has been to discuss women in a manner that allows their differences to emerge but does not depict them as inferior to men. Our goal is to review current cardiovascular research on women from a feminist theoretical perspective. We believe that a feminist perspective in cardiovascular research will advance the knowledge and recognition of womens health. We examined nine qualitative research articles in depth and applied a model of feminist research critique to them (Bunting, 1997). Historical androcentric notions in womens health and cardiovascular research are discussed. Also included are recommendations for future research to influence social change in womens cardiac health.