The Representation of HIV Positive Identities to Children and Adolescents in Britain, 1983-1997
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[Re]inventing Childhood in the Age of AIDS: The Representation of HIV Positive Identities to Children and Adolescents in Britain, 1983-1997 A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health 2016 Hannah Elizabeth Kershaw School of Medical Sciences 2 Contents Title page 1 Figures 5 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 7 Abstract 8 Declaration 9 Copyright Statement 9 Acknowledgements 10 Timeline of HIV/AIDS-related Education Events and Texts 12 [Re]inventing childhood in the age of AIDS: The representation of HIV positive identities to children in Britain, 1983-1997 13 Overview 15 The Anxious Teleological History and Politics of Childhood 19 Children’s rights and problem agency in practice 23 Constructing the chronology and parameters of child-related AIDS policy 26 Constructing childhood and the child through policy and legislation, 1981-1997 27 The textual history of childhood 38 Constructing HIV positive identities: theorising realities 41 Identity as Aetiology – tracking the media mediation of AIDS 46 Conclusions 53 Chapter 1: Timeline of Key events 55 Chapter 1: Constructing childhood pragmatically: The discursive production and dissemination of HIV and AIDS education material by established public health institutions 1985-1997 56 The problem with Teaching about HIV and AIDS 57 Sex, education, AIDS, and legislation – a battle for jurisdiction 62 The Family Planning Association’s ‘crisis’ response 65 The FPA-HEA representation of HIV positive identities to the under-eighteens 70 3 Teaching about HIV & AIDS – an FPA, HEA (& DES?) endeavour 72 Indecision and Consensus: the British Medical Association’s Response to AIDS 81 Educating the ‘public’ 85 Risky knowledge for risky identities: Censorship and prejudice in AIDS and You 89 The Production and Dissemination of the BMA’s AIDS and You Game 96 Conclusions 106 Chapter 2 Timeline of Key Events 110 Chapter 2: The Construction of HIV positive Identities in Teenage Girls’ Magazines, 1983-1997 111 Introducing the Right Honourable Peter Luff MP 111 Producing a Magazine, Constructing an Audience 115 ‘Infections in your vaginas are ... common’: Constructing and deconstructing narratives of sexual risk in Just Seventeen 124 ‘The most important thing for you to know ...is that you stand virtually no chance of catching it’: Constructing ‘at risk’ identities in Just Seventeen 129 Risk, blame and narratives of ‘safe-sex’ 139 The end of the teenage magazine era 145 Conclusions 147 Chapter 3 Timeline of Key Events 150 Chapter 3: The construction of HIV positive identities on children’s television, the BBC’s Grange Hill 151 Examining children’s texts 153 Creating Children’s television at the BBC: Policy and intent 157 Grange Hill: trend setter to safe product, 1978-1995 160 Bullying boys & anxious adults: Grange Hill’s depiction of obstacles to sex education 164 The representation of risk in Grange Hill’s AIDS Workshop 168 The effect of AIDS on identity and the nuclear family in Grange Hill 172 4 The representation of AIDS stigma and ‘at risk’ identities in Grange Hill 182 Conclusions: ‘Private things affect other people’ 193 Chapter 4 Timeline of Key Events 195 Chapter 4: ‘It is like living with a tiny time bomb’: Representing HIV positive identities to HIV-affected children 196 ‘[T]his is not a gay disease’: Recognising HIV as a ‘family disease’ 202 Picture books for HIV-affected Children 214 Resources for Older Children 232 Conclusions 240 Conclusions 242 AIDS and children after 1997 249 Avenues for future work: limitations and opportunities 251 Bibliography 253 Archival Sources 253 British Medical Association Archive 253 The Wellcome Archive 255 The National Archives 257 Newspapers and Periodicals 257 Televisual Sources 260 Other Published Primary Sources 260 Just Seventeen 263 MIZZ 264 Oral histories 265 Secondary sources 265 5 Figures Figure 1. Key events in the Politics of Childhood .......................................................... 29 Figure 2. Beliefs, Aims and Objectives of the Sex Education Forum, 1987 .................. 69 Figure 3. Teaching about HIV & AIDS teaching pack cover, 1988 ................................ 74 Figure 4. Module 1 and 2 outlines ................................................................................. 77 Figure 5. AIDS and You: An illustrated Guide, 1987 ...................................................... 88 Figure 6. Getting AIDS - A typical double-page spread ................................................. 92 Figure 7. A taxonomy of dangerous behaviour ............................................................... 93 Figure 8. 'Risky' sex acts ................................................................................................. 94 Figure 9. Destroying the virus ......................................................................................... 96 Figure 10. AIDS and You board game, 1989 .................................................................. 97 Figure 11. AIDS and You board game with Teaching Pack ............................................ 98 Figure 12. Imagery deemed too insensitive to appear in the 1991 edition of the AIDS and You booklet .............................................................................................................. 99 Figure 13. Unsafe and avoidable acts ........................................................................... 101 Figure 14. Safe and socially acceptable ........................................................................ 102 Figure 15. AIDS and You: an edition for more independent learning, 1994 ................. 103 Figure 16. 'Personal Column', Just Seventeen, (March 13, 1985), pp. 52-53. .............. 131 Figure 17. Tricia Kreitman, 'Body and Soul', MIZZ, 1 (April 12-25, 1985), p. 26-27.. 134 Figure 18. 'New Wives Tales: "Kiss a homosexual?! -Don't you realise you'll get AIDS?!!" ....................................................................................................................... 137 Figure 19. Isobel Irvine, the MIZZ book of AIDS, (November 27 - December 10, 1991) ....................................................................................................................................... 140 Figure 20. 3 pages inside the MIZZ book of AIDS ........................................................ 141 Figure 21. Department of Health and Social Security ‘Don’t Aid AIDS’ Adverts ...... 142 Figure 22. ‘THE MIZZ AIDS SURVEY - help us to help you’ .................................... 143 Figure 23. THE MIZZ AIDS SURVEY RESULTS ...................................................... 144 Figure 24. Disruptive, the boys laugh; attentive, the girls shush them and try to listen in episode 15 ..................................................................................................................... 166 Figure 25. Jodie places a condom on a cucumber; Dennis, Dudley and Josh hit each other with cucumbers and condoms .............................................................................. 167 Figure 26. Rachel walks to the 'high risk' end of the scale to demonstrate ‘unprotected sex’ is not ‘safe’ ............................................................................................................ 170 6 Figure 27. The Year Tens imagine how a loved one diagnosed with HIV might feel .. 174 Figure 28. Mrs Mitchell on screen, Episode 14 ............................................................ 177 Figure 29. Mr Mitchell panics ....................................................................................... 181 Figure 30. Plague Girl Death Touch. Dean defaces Lucy’s locker ............................... 185 Figure 31. It’s Clinic Day by Ruth Stevens .................................................................. 217 Figure 32. What a load of questions! ............................................................................ 221 Figure 33. ‘I'm HIV, Rosie has AIDS’ .......................................................................... 222 Figure 34. Mrs Khan keeps Jane very busy .................................................................. 223 Figure 35. ‘It only hurts a little... and I'm brave.’ ......................................................... 225 Figure 36. The HIV bug is a nasty one ......................................................................... 226 Figure 37. "They ask me..." ........................................................................................... 229 Figure 38. "And I tell them, for the last time, no you can't." ........................................ 230 Figure 39. Maybe they wouldn't be frightened ............................................................. 231 Figure 40. ‘become a very good friend’ ........................................................................ 234 Figure 41. ‘Don't talk to her you'll get AIDS!’ ............................................................. 237 Figure 42. ‘I wish someone had told me about it...’...................................................... 238 Figure 43. ‘Hello, is that the AIDS help line?’ ............................................................. 239 7 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AVERT AIDS Virus Education Research Trust – though now known simply as AVERT AZT Azidothymide BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BBCWA British Broadcasting Corporation Written Archive BMA British Medical Association BMAAF British Medical Association AIDS Foundation CCETSW