Buhay Pusit: Mutedness among queer persons living with HIV

From Iskomunidad

Abstract Diaz, E.P. L. (2019). Buhay Pusit: Mutedness among queer persons living with HIV. Unpublished Masteral Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication

This research uses the case study as a methodological tool to determine the ways queer PLHIVs (persons living with HIV) are muted. As a muted co-cultural group, queer PLHIVs employ co-cultural communication strategies in dealing with the members of the dominant culture. From the analysis of the cases of six queer PLHIV co-researchers, the study manifested a key understanding of the ways by which they have been muted pre-diagnosis, during diagnosis, and post-diagnosis with HIV. The research employed a phenomenological analysis of the queer PLHIVs’ lived experiences. This informed the six influential factors (field of experience, preferred outcomes, communication approaches, abilities, situational context, and perceived costs and rewards) that affect the communication orientations and strategies queer PLHIVs employ in interacting with the dominant culture. The results of the study show how mutedness is experienced by queer PLHIVs even at an early age prior to their diagnosis as seropositive. Additionally, the communication strategies that surfaced fall within the categories initially set by Orbe (1998). However, given the complex nature of queer PLHIV co-cultural membership, a number of strategies also emerge as ambivalent when analyzed through the framework. This is related to the varied characterizations the dominant culture takes in each of their contexts. This communication research makes suggestions on the relevance of queer experiences in the management of the fast-growing HIV epidemic in the Philippines. >

View Thesis

[[Category: < CMC > Thesis]][[Category:< Communication Research>]]