The Lion at the Gate: An HIV-Affected Caregiver Resists Stigma

This article examines two bounded stories of HIV stigma told by an older woman who took care of her adult son as he died of AIDS. Her self-definition as a protector of her dying son was challenged when she encountered ostracism and prejudice. Her words and expressions illuminate her confrontation and resistance to associative stigma. An expansion of Goffman's view of stigma management is necessary to understand this caregiver's experiences in the face of the larger cultural narrative of HIV stigma: This caregiver did not manage stigma, she actively fought it.