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A new television soap opera on AIDS

By Dixie Edith

Shortly before the 17th International Conference on AIDS opens in Mexico City in early August, a new television soap opera sparks debate over daily life of HIV-infected people in the island.

"How can they show an HIV-positive man dating two women at the same time? What about social responsibility?" wondered Marta García, a 55-year-old PR officer.

These questions have to do with the conflicts faced by David, one of the main characters in Dust in the wind, which is shown prime time over Cubavisión channel three nights a week.

He has a steady sexual partner (Liuba), but falls in love with Keila, the family doctor. He decides to conceal his condition from and have no sex with her.

Many viewers, mostly women with teenage children, feel that the way such a situation is presented does not help increase risk perception among young people.

The issue was even discussed at a general meeting sponsored by the Youth Study Center on World Population Day last June 11.

Daniela Santos, a 21-year-old student of medicine, said that the alarming thing about it is not to see David falling in love with another woman, but lying to her.

He should have told her about it right after they met and let Keila decide if she would take the risk or not, she told SEMlac.

By the end of 2007, there were 9,034 HIV-positive people and around 7,600 were living with HIV/AIDS in the island.

The prevalence rate now stands at 0.09 percent. Growing slowly, though steadily, the virus is being transmitted mostly through sexual relations and by men having sex with men.

Roberto (38) was diagnosed 11 years ago and finds it OK for David to take such an attitude.

You have to be in our shoes to really understand what we endure. In an effort to protect Liuba, he avoids having sex with her. And although he is in love with Keila, he has no sex with her. "Being HIV-positive does not mean you have to isolate yourself from the rest of the world," he added.

The Population and Development Study Center (CEPDE), an institution under the umbrella of the National Office of Statistics, conducted a survey among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) last year. It revealed that their average age was 35.

CEPDE researcher Mildred Iglesias agrees with Roberto: David acts in a responsible manner because he does not expose Keila to any risk. "He would be renouncing life otherwise", she stressed.

The survival rate has significantly grown because all HIV-positive people have both access to antiretroviral drugs and the opportunity to be actively involved in social life.

Designed under a project seeking to strengthen the national multi-sectorial response to prevent and treat the epidemic in Cuba, the survey was carried out in the April-May 2007 period and included 3,333 PLWHA (2,531 men and 802 women) living in all provinces of the country.

The findings showed that it is a predominantly male epidemic affecting mainly the capital city and some central and eastern provinces.

The survey questionnaire included PLWHA acceptance by the rest of the population. Over 42 percent of respondents said that they had experienced rejection at some point in the past, just because they were HIV-positive.

When they were asked about such a feeling in the last 12 months, only 20.8 percent held the same opinion.

This percentage is very similar to the number of people aged 12 to 49 who were unfriendly toward PLWHA, as corroborated by a 2006 CEPDE survey on HIV/AIDS Infection Prevention Indicators.

Some 75 percent of respondents aged 12 to 49 were sympathetic to and around 25 percent discriminated against PLWHA due to lack of information on ways of preventing and transmitting the virus.

"It is not easy for us to confess we are HIV-positive. I have not given you my surname during this interview, for example, because I do not want to be identified", Roberto told SEMlac.

Fear of rejection makes some PLWHA not tell anybody about their condition, including healthcare specialists, the survey revealed.

A previous television soap opera (The hidden side of the moon) sparked heated debate over sexual diversity and homophobia among the local population in 2006. It featured five different stories of HIV-positive people.

After it was shown, an additional 22,000 people voluntarily went for HIV tests, 4,256 called the National Prevention Center hotline and 750 sent electronic mails to it.

Santos finds it OK to portray the conflicts and contradictions of PLWHA on television and deal with criticisms.

"When people do not like what they see, they usually make comments and look for information, which is a key factor in prevention", she indicated.

Based on survey findings, CEPDE researchers recommend implementing further actions to provide information on HIV prevention and transmission, and help people adopt safe sexual behaviors.

Is masculinity changing?

By Sara Más / Photo: Carmona

Achieving gender equality in Cuba today largely depends on male and female models, experts said.

Men are being asked to change, but it is their model the one that predominates, Oscar Ulloa told SEMlac. He is a psychology professor and coordinator of the Gender Equality Study Group at the University of Oriente, 860 kilometers east of Havana.

"There is a belief, which has become evident in many research works, that masculinity in its most traditional and inflexible form of expression is not only reproduced, but also accepted and even admired", he added.

Under the traditional scheme, the masculine is associated with power, supremacy, strength, independence and success.

The male should be highly competitive, always be a winner and relegate feelings and emotions that could womanize his image. He should be very clear about something: he can never look like a woman.

Established in September 2006, the Gender Equality Study Group is made up of 30 members and collaborators, including psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, historians, artists, jurists, economists, philologists and pedagogues who work at various local institutions.

The group has dealt with gender equality, subjective autonomy, gender identity, motherhood and fatherhood, masculinity-related contradictions, human body and menopause, couple relations, and sexism.

Local masculinity studies boomed in the late 1990s. They were first undertaken by women and later involved men.

The list of pioneering experts includes Patricia Arés, a professor at the University of Havana; Ramón Rivero, a professor at the University of Villa Clara; María Teresa Díaz, a specialist at the National Sex Education Center; and Mayda Álvarez, director of the Women's Study Center at the Federation of Cuban Women.

While Arés and Rivero focused on paternity issues, Díaz and Álvarez centered around sexuality and social construction of masculinity, recalled local historian Julio C. González in his work: Feminism and masculinity: women against men? He is the coordinator of the Iberian-American Network on Masculinity.

"Cuban studies over men's issues do not abound", Ulloa indicated.

Reports said that these issues have not been studied on a regular basis. Men are often diagnosed and undergo a medical treatment that silences them.

The fact that the local mortality rate is higher in men than in women clearly shows that men do not usually care for themselves in the same way as women do.

"They go to see the doctor when it is too late, Ulloa commented. There is also a myth about men being invulnerable", he stressed.

In an effort to reveal masculinity-associated contradictions, the Group has conducted a number of studies showing that family education does not promote autonomy, consistency, authenticity and critical consciousness. Role playing sparks conflict and does not encourage complementation. The role of the father is limited to provider and decision-maker.

Old and new paradigms coexist. Women are demanding changes, and emerging masculinity models are taking shape.

Most changes that men are undergoing today are called values added, said Maite Pérez, a professor at the University of Oriente.

"Cuban men are trying to meet new social demands without reaching an identity-crisis level", she added.

And they are changing not because they really want to do so, but because of the need to be accepted, she stressed in her work: Masculinity, the other face of culture.

"There are several factors behind men's opposition to or denial of change", Ulloa emphasized.

"Women often seek to have male qualities and implement male activities. When the masculine provides reference for change, men do not think they are part of the process", he told SEMlac.

"Approached this way, men's changes are made invisible and considered mere gender dislocation. Questioning gender identity is always associated with women's symptoms", he added.

In his view, there is a need to put masculinity to the test, identify related situations and conduct further studies.

"On the other hand, Pérez favors the idea of uniting. We need both men and women to produce change", she stressed.

"Most men think they should change, but they refuse to do so because they see it as a loss. Change has undoubtedly become a nightmare for men: denying it would be tantamount to going against development, and accepting it poses a great challenge", she concluded.

Women's role in Judaism

By Mariana Ramírez-Corría

Women make up around 60 percent of the 1500 Jews living in Cuba today.

The following is a SEMlac interview with Maritza Corrales Capestany, a historian of the Hebrew community in the island.

SEMlac: Why can we say that women play a key role in Judaism?

MC: Because they pass on traditions, including lighting up candles on Shabuoth (a holiday observed on the 6th and 7th of Sivan), both at the temple and at home.

Why do women light up the candles?

Under Judaism, everything is closely related to the Bible and the Talmud (authoritative body of Jewish tradition). Using the central candle, women light up the other candles, including the menorah, which is the seven-armed candelabrum, and the nine-armed, which is used only on Hanukkah, an eight-day holiday beginning on the 25th of Kislev and commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem after its defilement by Antiochus of Syria. Hanukkah is usually observed over Catholic Christmas.

Men can also light up the candles, but the reason for giving women such a task is connected with Eve, Adam's wife. As she dimmed the light of the world to commit a mortal sin, she was supposed to give it back with similar intensity.

Whom do mothers pass on this and other traditions?

The so-called Ídish mame (Jewish mother) passes them on to daughters. They teach them how to bake bread, clean the house, etc. And they will do the same after they marry. Other important values include caring for the family, helping people in need, and always doing good.

What is the importance of number 18?

It is the Jai, a symbol of life that is worn around the neck and shows our people's ability to be reborn and multiply life.

Under the Talmud, the number of Tzaddikim histarim (just, simple, modest men needed to save the Jews and the rest of the world) is 36, that is, a multiple of 18.

Is children's education important to the Jewish family?

Yes, it is. Most of the first immigrants who arrived in Cuba were peddlers. Totaling around 1,000 people, they built the first reformist synagogue and the first Jewish cemetery in 1906.

Shortly after Turkish and Balkan immigrants arrived, they founded the first Sephardic Society (Chevet Ahim), on Inquisidor Street, and built another cemetery in an area close to the first one in Guanabacoa municipality.

By 1925, they had totaled 8,000, including Sephardim and Americans. As they sold products at prices that were lower than those at shops, they made profits fast. They also sold on credit to low-income people and managed to move up on the social scale.

By 1940, they had built their first houses and operated commercial establishments in an area popularly known as Polish Town. To Cubans, they were Polish and all Spaniards were Galician. Many Jewish children studied and became professionals at the time.

What about the 1950's?

As the Jews had a good economic situation, they were able to build the first synagogue under modern architectural standards. It was called Jewish Foundation of Cuba. They also built the Adath Israel Religious Society on Acosta and Picota streets and the Sephardic Center on 21st and G streets, in 1959. These facilities have been considered the three most important construction projects they implemented in Havana over this decade.

The reformist synagogues on 21st and Inquisidor streets were closed down some years later.

There is today a synagogue in Camagüey and another one in Santiago de Cuba . There are small communities in Guantánamo, Sancti Spíritus, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Matanzas , but they have no synagogues. They just meet at members' for celebrations.

Who runs the religious service?

As there are no rabbis in Cuba, any community member can provide these services. Of course, there are certain things only a rabbi can decide on and do.

Learning to get out of violence

By Raquel Sierra

Small children do not behave properly at school and teenage girls invite their boyfriends to stay with them at home overnight. As most parents do not know how to face these situations, they often resort to violence.

"A way of avoiding or getting out of it involves understanding people and their needs, and devising the right mechanisms to solve conflicts", said Valia Solís, a psychologist who has for 14 years been working in Cárdenas, a municipality in Matanzas province, 140 kilometers east of Havana.

"Some children do not want to hear about their parents, and some others wet the bed at an age when such a thing is not normal. The causes behind such behaviors have to do with aggressive mothers and fathers or abusive teachers", she added.

"They come to us because their children exhibit poor academic performance. The main problem is that adults are not aware of children's needs and impose excessive punishments. We provide them with tools to face these situations", she stressed.

"Spanking is not the only way to damage an individual's integrity. Looks, gestures, cutting remarks and silence are all expressions of violence", she emphasized.

While violence in Cuba is not as serious as in other Latin American countries, the number of cases involving domestic psychological or emotional violence has been steadily growing in the last few years, experts said. Girls and women are usually the main victims, they indicated.

Clotilde Proveyer, a professor of sociology at the University of Havana , stressed that psychological violence is the most commonly seen form of violence against women. "Violence affects one every three women", she specified.

The Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women indicates that violence is an expression of historically unequal power relations between men and women. It has led to domination and discrimination, and has hindered the advancement of women, the text adds.

United Nations representatives have stressed that violence against women involves gender-based actions resulting in physical, sexual and/or psychological damage, the use of threats, coercion or arbitrary imprisonment.

A wide range of cases

Claudia is a 50-year-old divorcée who found a new couple. As she did not like to lay bare in the privacy of her home, she went to see a psychotherapist. They came to the conclusion that her ex had made fun of her body so many times that he had damaged her mind.

María Caridad Pérez, a psychiatrist at the Community Center for Mental Health in Cárdenas, believes that the most difficult thing is to identify the phenomenon.

"Many women get depressed and anxious and suffer from sexual dysfunction and sleep disorders, but they are not always aware of the causes behind physical or psychological indisposition", she said.

"They do not try to get out of this vicious circle because they lack the tools to do so", she stressed.

When a woman decides to get out of such a situation, she experiences some losses (house, economic status, family trust, and others.), Pérez remarked.

"Counseling services therefore seek to empower women and increase their self-esteem", she commented.

"We organize workshops at the Center and gatherings at the local library, she noted.

Psychologist Yenia Pupo highlighted the importance of education. We will never overemphasize how necessary dialogue and reflection are, she stressed. Opposing views do not necessarily make enemies, she added.

As violence has been given a low profile, it has not been easy to devise prompt solutions, she emphasized.

Visibility is of the essence because abuse and lack of respect cause psychological damage. We should try to find the right way to say things, she added.

People manage to get out of abuse shortly after they participate in workshops and other educational events, she remarked.

Prejudices often prevent women from breaking with violence. You should stand your husband because he is the father of your children, it is often said.

Many women fear what people will think of them if they report their cases to the police, Pupo commented.

Although the Cuban government has sought to promote gender equality in the last 50 years, there remain sexist education and family violence, experts feel.

Educational actions should be further implemented to reach this goal, Pupo thinks.

Physical, psychological and sexual violence is affecting people in the island regardless of religion, cultural level, economic situation, race, and age, experts indicated.

They recommend systematizing research works, carrying out a national prevalence study, and establishing a databank on violence, including frequency and far-reaching consequences of such acts.

Cause and effect of aging

By Dixie Edith

By 2025, Cuba and Barbados will rank on top of the list of Latin American and Caribbean countries with the highest number of people over 60 years of age (25 percent of the population).

Reports from a recent meeting of the University of Havana 's Population Study Center (CEDEM) indicated that older people will make up 34 percent of the total number of inhabitants in the island by 2050.

Experts believe that the fertility rate is the demographic variable that has had the strongest impact on the local population structure.

Cuban women have, since 1978, failed to reach the population replacement level. This means that they have had no daughter during their reproductive age. Such a trend is likely to continue, experts anticipate.

The causes of dropping fertility include economic problems, housing deficit, professional aspirations, and little or no support from husbands in raising the children, local research works have corroborated.

Women have one or two children after they complete their education, get married and begin working, a study by the National Statistics Division at the Ministry of Public Health concluded.

Mothers are demanding household support services, including laundry, day-care centers and electric appliances for daily chores.

Another reason behind low fertility has to do with aging, which is both cause and effect of the current population juncture.

A CEDEM survey on family planning, which involved 10 households in Havana , showed that the presence of disabled/older people at home makes women put maternity off.

Women at four households said that looking after older relatives hinders their plans to have more children.

They did not know how to deal with this situation and continue working and living a normal life.

Participants in an Intergovernmental Conference on Aging, which was organized by the United Nations in Santiago de Chile in 2003, anticipated that many people who were taking care of their parents would not have such a care available when they aged.

The Latin American and Caribbean Population Center (CELADE) submitted a report at the event indicating that a sharp decline in fertility rates has had a negative impact on family support for people over 60.

Those who are 30 to 40 years old today must be prepared for such a contingency, the report concluded.

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean (SEMlac), International News Agency, offers this weekly service.

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