Damaged Goods?: Women Living with Incurable Sexually Transmitted Diseases
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How do women living with genital herpes and/or HPV (human papilloma virus) infections see themselves as sexual beings, and what choices do they make about sexual health issues? Adina Nack, a medical sociologist who specializes in sexual health and social psychology, conducted in-depth interviews with 43 women about their identities and sexuality in regards to chronic illness. The result is a fascinating book about an issue that affects over 15 million Americans, but is all too little discussed. Damaged Goods adds to our knowledge of how women are affected by living with chronic STDs and reveals the stages of their sexual- self transformation. From the anxiety of being diagnosed with an STD to issues of blame and shame, Nack-herself diagnosed with a cervical HPV infection-shows why these women feeling that they are "damaged goods," question future relationships, marriage, and their ability to have healthy children.
Ch. 1 Mixing morality with medicine 1Ch. 2 Sexual invincibility 22Ch. 3 STD anxiety 48Ch. 4 The immoral patient 65Ch. 5 Damaged goods 86Ch. 6 Sexual healing 103Ch. 7 Reintegrating the sexual self 129Ch. 8 From personal tragedies to social change 157App. A Gaining entree - an auto-ethnographic foundation 193App. B Research methodology 201App. C Demographic characteristics of participants 209Notes 215Glossary 219References 233Index 243
