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Surviving & Thriving: AIDS, Politics, and Culture

Fear Mongering

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AIDS, the ultimate going away present, 1980s

Produced by the Dallas County Health Department, this poster prioritized abstinence over safer sex, using fear and certainty of death as the primary motivators for behavior change. The coffin implied that AIDS was a death sentence, silencing positions articulated by people with AIDS that they wanted and needed to be seen as surviving and thriving.

  • Publisher(s):
    Dallas County Health Department
  • Type:
    Poster
Purple tinted photograph of a hearse car with a casket hanging out the back.
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    AIDS. THE ULTIMATE GOING AWAY PRESENT.

    It’s not something you want to give, or receive, from anyone. Because it’s incurable. And it kills. Everyone who gets AIDS dies.

    But the disease can be prevented. By saying no to sex. And by saying no to drugs. Never share a drug needle or equipment.

    Get all the facts about AIDS, and talk about them with your girlfriend or boyfriend.

    Remember, when you sleep with someone, you’re sleeping with everyone he or she has slept with for the past eight years.

    If you choose to have sex, stick with one partner. And always use a condom. It’s one of the best defenses against AIDS. After all, if you’re going to have sex, you should do it responsibly.

    So don’t get carried away. Find out all you can about how not to get AIDS, the right way to use a condom, and how to keep AIDS from spreading.

    Call the Dallas County Health Department. (214 ) 351-4335. All calls are strictly confidential.

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