Beyond empowerment: Heterosexualities and the prevention of AIDS

AIDS-related research on sexuality has demonstrated both the importance of investigation of the meanings of sexual categories, practices, and relationships, and the fact that such meanings may vary—among cultures, historical periods, and even among individuals within the same social setting. This paper considers AIDS-related research on sexuality as itself an important instance of the social construction of meaning. It is argued that the concept of empowerment, when understood as the power to use condoms, can in fact contribute to the reproduction of both gender hierarchies and dominant conceptions of sexuality in consumer society.