BRAGGING ABOUT YOUR NEGATIVE HIV/STD STATUS
I recently got my STD results back, and they all came back negative. Usually I would proudly proclaim my negative status, and even post a picture of my negative test results online. However, this time I felt different about the act. For a while now I have been torn on whether or not the bragging/boasting about being STD/HIV negative is an insult to those people who are positive.
I want to be sensitive to everyone’s path in life and I don’t want to alienate people who are positive and make them feel sad or depressed about their status. I think a lot of reason why people aren’t vocal about being positive is because we make it seem like the worst thing to ever happen in the history of the world. Your life isn’t over because you are positive, there are steps you can take to live a healthy life, such as taking your medicine and living holistically.
So, what do you think about people bragging and boasting about their negative status? Is it insensitive to the lives of those who are positive? Does it make it seem like being negative is good and being positive is bad and something to be ashamed of?
I think everyone should be proud of getting tested and knowing their status, but whether you’re negative or positive, you are still human and should feel secure in who you are.
Posted on October 6, 2010, in Questions. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Good on you. I always found it to be extremely narcissistic and arrogant. True, you yourself maybe negative; but what about the person who goes into that room after you and finds out they aren’t? Their entire lives will be fundamentally altered because of that…
Now, if you are doing it as a PSA about the importance of HIV testing then that is different. But most people, I’ve found, use it to advertise on hook up sites.
I understand how you feel…I feel guilty for my negative status.
I think bragging in general is an exclusionary act. It’s hierarchical and oppressive.
It’s like this: there are people out there that are learning how to be responsibly sexual despite having an STD. There are people who declare that they have hepatitis on their dating site profile, and own their truth. There are people who put embarrassment and shame behind them and go talk to a sexual health professional about the security measures they need to take if they have an STD but still want to go down on strangers at swinging sex parties.
To brag about your negative status is to put yourself above those people, and to devalue their hard work. It’s to equate STD-free status with sexual pride, and thus imply the opposite of STD-positive status.
You know what we should do? Brag about the fact that you went and got yourself tested. Reassure the timid about how easy and painless and dignified the whole procedure was. Recommend a certain clinic or facility. Drop tips to help people prevent the further spread of STDs (like, most people don’t know what a dental dam is, or when to use one, for example).
Then not only are you celebrating yourself and your hard work, but you’re congratulating EVERYONE who cares about sexual health and sexual honesty, whether or not they have an STD.
i recently came to the same decision