Deconstructing Bias: Women and HIV in Audiovisual Narratives

Abstract

This study examines four audiovisual productions in which HIV-positive women are portrayed as the central characters in narrative, figures whose experiences have historically been marginalised in the public perception of HIV/AIDS, in contrast to the relevance given to gay men. A comparative methodology is used to analyse how stigma, gender hierarchies, and media bias have contributed to sidelining the stories of HIV-positive women, relegating them to a secondary position. The study begins with a look at productions such as Yo soy positivo, ¿y tú? (2009) and Silencio (2025), in which the diagnosis functions as the narrative axis. In both, the focus is on the disclosure of serological status and the anxieties arising from disclosing one’s HIV-positive status in a domestic setting or within sexual and emotional relationships, using archetypes in the construction of characters. In contrast, works such as Indetectables (2017) and Soy Visible (2023) shift the focus towards affirmative narratives, highlighting the collective dimension of activism and how the performativity of anti-stigma campaigns has helped to build less violent worlds, whilst leaving unresolved issues regarding other bodies and adherence. The study concludes that contemporary audiovisual production must go beyond mere visibility, exploring the materiality of the body, the diversity of experiences and the co-construction of narratives by the protagonists themselves. Only in this way is it possible to add complexity to the imaginaries of HIV and generate critical, situated and transformative representations, capable of challenging inherited biases and opening space for new forms of social and cultural sensitivity.