9412381 Knauft / Wardlow This project involves the dissertation research of an anthropology student from Emory University. The student will study the socio-cultural repercussions of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in a tribal society of Papua New Guinea. The project will focus on how women in this society use this disease category to gain moral social status, by accusing men of spreading the disease. Using in-depth interviews with two samples of women, 50 who reported STD and 50 women who have not, the project will analyze women's choices, rhetoric, and social status. In addition the project will analyze data from records of clinics on the prevalence of STDs. This research is important because it will provide a valuable case study of the impact of STDs on a tribal population. By studying the variations in how diseases impact on women's lives and how women use the existence of STDs to negotiate for more autonomy and social status, the project will advance our understanding of gender relations in traditional societies and of the cultural interpretations of STDs. Improvements in our knowledge of how people interpret the meaning of STDs is a necessary step towards designing interventions that work to control the diseases.
