Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men Review
I am amazed that I missed this book until a couple months ago. Indeed, it amazes me how few people have been motivated to write a review of it.
Rotello really explains in a simple sensible understandable fashion how the AIDS epidemic resulted from changes in technology , sexual role changes among gay males , social patterns of IV drug users (those in NYC shared needles in galleries while on the West Coast most used their own works at home and escaped the epidemic) and finally how hyperpromiscuity in large cities were the core centers for spreading this epidemic.
Most importantly, Rotello sees a continuing disaster in the gay community if old patterns of multi-partner 1970s promiscuity are reverted to by today's generation.
This is a must read book for anyone touched by this disease. It should get 50 stars.
Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men Overview
ntensively researched, passionately argued, and intellectually rigorous, Sexual Ecology sounds a clarion call for the controversial revision of the gay male community's beliefs about and approaches to AIDS. It is widely agreed that Sexual Ecology is the first book since And the Band Played On to fundamentally challenge social perceptions of this virulent modern plague. Gabriel Rotello argues that a series of accepted views, such as "there are no such things as risk groups, only risky behaviors," the product of well-intentioned attempts to combat social stigma are fallacies that have hampered our attempts to study the disease. From the false security of condoms to the seeming magic bullet of protease inhibitors, simplistic ways of looking at AIDS have allowed thousands of gay men to become infected each year. Weaving together the intertwining threads of sexual politics, science, and survival, Sexual Ecology constructs an incisive, even-handed discussion that has been debated by activists and affirmed by scientists and epidemiologists, and that is relevant to all our lives.
The extremely strong response to the hardcover and wide media coverage confirms the timely nature of the subject.
Includes a new afterword by the author.
Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men Specifications
There was a time, before AIDS, when gay male culture was often synonymous with multiple partners, bathhouses, and an emphasis on youth and physical beauty. Monogamy was identified with "straight" culture and therefore something to be resisted. Even when the AIDS epidemic was at its height, the gay community promoted condom use but did little to discourage risky behavior. In his groundbreaking book Sexual Ecology, author Gabriel Rotello views the epidemic in a new way: as part of an ecological system. Rotello's approach, while unique in the study of AIDS, is one familiar to the environmental movement. He sees the disease not as a discrete element, but as part of a system of "behaviors, thoughts and feelings that made gay culture so susceptible to AIDS."
Although Rotello aims his book primarily at a gay audience, Sexual Ecology has a wider appeal. His chronicle follows the growth of promiscuity among homosexual men through its promotion by bathhouse owners and the gay media. Equally fascinating is the current trend toward more mainstream values among many gay men. Finally, his suggestions for making gay culture sustainable (in the words of environmental science) instead of self-destructive provide serious food for thought and for debate.
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