El SIDA en El Arte: HIV Prevention Media

Posters are an effective way to disseminate information to the public; by highlighting information through art, posters balance accessible education with entertainment (Singhal & Rogers, 2001). When the AIDS epidemic hit Latin America, poster propaganda helped disperse the correct information amidst a flurry of confusion and fear. Scientists could simplify information into posters that helped citizens protect themselves from AIDS. Today, these posters are incredibly powerful, as AIDS prevention media needs to be easily distributed in order to capture the attention of a modern audience (Geary, 2008). Using imagery tactics that symbolize different aspects of AIDS, posters from the late ‘80s to the twenty-first-century help Latin Americans understand AIDS and how to protect themselves and their families. This article analyzes two stylistic features in propaganda and how they represent AIDS and AIDS awareness, especially in Latin America. By using visual analysis in the social sciences, this article identifies how visual culture can reflect values can reflect the values of AIDS prevention and awareness, and promote public health as a whole (Pink, 2004).

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, AIDS struck Latin America and the Caribbean harder than it did the United States (Ortiz-Torres et. al, 2000). Low-income women, sex workers, and gay-identifying men were at the highest risk. Though televised media was an effective way to reach the widest audience possible, countries where AIDS was endemic were also less likely to have widespread televised media campaigns (Myhre & Flora, 2000). This is why countries like Bolivia utilized mass poster campaigns to spread health information (Valente & Saba, 1998). Figure 1, which came from a Bolivian AIDS prevention movement, was used to spread awareness among lower income families. Figure 4 comes from the Dominican Republic, where the AIDS crisis hit sex workers harder than other populations (Ortiz-Torres et. al, 2000). This poster serves to make target populations aware of misconceptions about how AIDS is transmitted. In addition, many of these health posters came from non-governmental organizations. During the AIDS crisis, political organizations struggled to address the issue without a cure (Torres-Ruiz, 2011). The other two posters, Figures 2 and 3, are Mexican posters from non-political groups that explain health prevention methods. All four of the posters, despite being from different organizations and countries, all utilize the same tactics to promote healthy AIDS prevention tactics.

AIDS prevention and awareness movements use the color red as a popular symbol of recognition (Sobnosky & Hauser, 1998). It can be used to represent blood or as a warning. Striking red text in Figure 1 draws audience attention to the messages of the posters. In Figure 1, the word “¡Alerta!” is at the top of the page in red text. The text at the bottom, though smaller, urges the audience to inform themselves about the threat of AIDS. By describing AIDS as a threat with the word ‘alert” at the top, which is written in red, the poster evokes a sense of concern in the audience. The poster implores the audience to reconsider risky actions that could result in contracting AIDS. Red as a warning color, in conjunction with words of warning, forces the audience to pay attention and understand the dangers of AIDS

AIDS awareness movements also use the color red as a symbol for the epidemic. Most often, red is associated with blood, one of the main pathways of AIDS infection. This is the most evident in Figure 2, a poster about blood donation. The center of the poster holds a bright red blood bag in the shape of the heart, under the phrase “Donar sangre es un acto de amor”. The heart filled with blood also has a stamp that says “SIDA” on it in red text. The red stands out against the black text and the light blue background. With a positive connotation of donating as an act of love, this poster encourages viewers to donate blood to help others that may be infected with AIDS.

The second key element of AIDS posters is the use of the human body. AIDS prevention posters try to show what it means to be a person with AIDS through their depictions of the body (Engelmann, 2018). Figure 3 shows a person infected with AIDS and the consequences of infection; it is split in the middle, with two images of the same person. On the left, a man is seen injecting himself with drugs. His face is blurred and appears to be moving rapidly, symbolizing the disassociation one feels with their body while doing drugs. The second picture shows the same man holding a photo of his wife and child, in front of a grave. The implication here is that because he had AIDS, he also gave it to his wife and child, who then died from the disease. This draws the audience’s sympathy to his loss and also scares them.

Contrary to the emotional nature of Figure 3, Figure 4 takes a more cartoonish route to communicate a serious message. The poster shows an army of condom “people” to represent the fight against AIDS. The group holds signs saying “El virus no pasara” and “Únete a la lucha”. The bottom text explains that condoms are the most efficient form of protection against AIDS. By presenting bodies as the protection methods, the audience draws a positive relationship between wearing condoms during sex and preventing AIDS. Figure 4 also indicates another important aspect of AIDS prevention: social relations and community. AIDS is transmitted through social interactions (Wilson & Miller, 2003). By representing the condoms as a group, the poster encourages the audience to band together for the fight against AIDS, using social connections to prevent the spread instead of helping it. Though the imagery is amusing, it makes it easier for the audience to understand.

Latin American AIDS posters are incredibly varied, but they use a number of similar tactics to communicate the dangers of AIDS. The color red warns against risky behaviors, while the use of bodies can draw human connections to the issue. Key visual tactics like these help alert readers, get their attention, and inform them about the dangers of AIDS.

Related Articles

• HIV/AIDS in Brazil: Lessons for Policy
• HIV/AIDS in Brazil: Epidemiology

Additional Resources

Latin American Posters Collection: http://pudl.princeton.edu/collections/pudl0025

US National Library of Medicine: Images of Health: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/photos.html

References

Engelmann, L. (2018). Seeing Bodies with AIDS. In Mapping AIDS: Visual Histories of an Enduring Epidemic (Global Health Histories, pp. 37-96). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

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Myhre, S.L & Flora, J.A. (2000). “HIV/AIDS Communication Campaigns: Progress and Prospects”. Journal of Health Communication, 5, 29-45.

Ortiz-Torres, B., Serrano-García, I., & Torres-Burgos, N. (2000). “Subverting Culture: Promoting HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Puerto Rican and Dominican Women”. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28(6), 859-881.

Pink, S. (2004). “Applied Visual Anthropology, Social Intervention, Visual Methodologies, and Anthropology Theory.” Visual Anthropology Review, 20(1), 3-16.

Singhal, A & Rogers, E.M. (2001). The Entertainment-Education Strategy in Communication Campaigns. In R.E Rice & C.K Atkin (Eds.), Public Communication Campaign (343-356). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Sobnosky, M.J. & Hauser, E. (1998). “Initiating or Avoiding Activism: Red Ribbons, Pink Triangles, and Public Argument About AIDS”. In W.N Elwood (Ed.), Power in the Blood: A Handbook on Aids, Politics, and Communication (25-37). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Print.

Torres-Ruiz, A. (2011). “HIV/AIDS and Sexual Minorities in Mexico: A Globalized Struggle for the Protection of Human Rights”. Latin American Research Review, 46(1), 30-53.

Valente, T.W & Saba, W.P. (1998). “Mass Media and Interpersonal Influence in a Reproductive Health Communication Campaign in Bolivia”. Communication Research 25(1), 96-124.

Wilson, B.D & Miller, R.L. (2003). “Examining Strategies For Culturally Grounded HIV Prevention: A Review”. AIDS Education and Prevention, 15(2), 184-202.