研究生课程论文
Overcoming sexual prejudice: A consequence of
题
目： stigmatization of AIDS patients in Dallas
Buyers Club (2013)
姓
名： 郑欣然
学
院： 外国语学院
专
业： 英语语言文学
学
号： 121114011366
任课教师： 韩琦珺
职称：副教授
2022 年 5 月 13 日
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Abstract: Dallas Buyers Club screened in 2013 is a film depicting a true-life story of a heterosexual
cowboy being diagnosed with AIDS in 1980s. Since AIDS is greatly stigmatized and closely related
to homosexual at that time, the protagonist experienced the stigmatization of both AIDS and
homosexual. In the process of being labeled, stereotyped, separated, and discriminated, the
protagonist not only realizes those sufferings the society constructed for AIDS patients, but also
passively placed himself in the place of homosexual to understand them and overcome his
homophobia and sexual prejudice. The depiction of stigmatization of AIDS in historical background
provides the audience a chance to rethink AIDS, homosexual and relevant stigmas with a modern
view, and serves as a new way of destigmatization.
Keywords: AIDS Dallas Buyers Club homosexual stigmatization
1 Introduction
Screened on 1 November 2013, Dallas Buyers Club is a biographical drama film based on a
true-life story. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof, an electrician as well as a rodeo cowboy
who lives in Dallas, Texas. Ron is diagnosed with AIDS and only has thirty days left. In order to
live longer, Ron smuggles unapproved drugs from Mexico and later sells them to people with AIDS.
People with AIDS have been the targets of stigma ever since the first cases of AIDS were detected
in the United States in 1980s (Herek 1106). As a heterosexual white man with strong masculinity,
Ron naturally discriminates against AIDS and takes it as the disease of homosexual. After being
diagnosed with AIDS, Ron thus experiences the stigmatization of AIDS, and he is forced to stand
with those people with AIDS, who are mostly gay men. In the process of struggling with AIDS, he
gradually overcomes his sexual prejudice and makes friends with queers. This paper will analyze
the text of this epidemic film, and intend to figure out how stigmatization of people with AIDS is
represented by depicting the story of Ron, and how his personal experience of stigmatization helps
him overcome sexual prejudice and homophobia.
2 Literature review and theoretical framework
The origin of the word “stigma” may date back the ancient Greek with the meaning of
something unusual or someone morally corrupt. It has been widely studied for modern social science,
and it is Erving Goffman’s book Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity published in
1963 has systematically put up with natures, sources, and consequences of stigma (Gao 26).
According to Goffman, stigma refers to disparaging and insulting labels of individuals or certain
groups given by the society (1). Those being labeled usually own attributes, qualities, characteristics,
behaviors, or in certain conditions that other cultures cannot accept (ibid. 3). Therefore, these
attributes, behaviors, etc., make labeled people feel shame and guilt (ibid. 6). In other words, stigma
can be regarded as a tainted and discounted attribute or a shortcoming.
Stigmatization is the process of being stigmatized. According to Elliott et al., once a person
has been classified as illegitimate for participation in an interaction, he or she is beyond the
protection of social norms and may be excluded or ignored (289-291). Jones et al. suggested that a
person is stigmatized when a mark, which is a deviation from a prototype or a norm, discredit the
bearer of the mark. And Crocker, Major, and Steele considered that stigma arises from one’s
membership in a group which is negatively valued in a specific situation (545). Kurzban and Leary
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concluded that stigmatization occurs when an individual is negatively evaluated, including
discrediting, negative attributions, perceived illegitimacy, or a devalued social identity (187-189).
Later, Link and Phelan has proposed 4 concurrent components of stigmatization, which are labeling,
stereotype, separation, and discrimination (367).
This paper will combine Link and Phelan’s conceptualization of stigmatization and Dallas
Buyers Club, in order to analyze how the protagonist Ron is stigmatized in film as other people with
AIDS has suffered before.
3 Stigmatization of AIDS patients
The very first cases of AIDS were found in American in 1981, and AIDS was later being
stigmatized due to its high contagion, high fatality rate and lack of accurate information about the
disease (Crandall 165-167), that is, AIDS-related stigma come from illness sources at the beginning.
Developing from illness sources, social stigmatization of AIDS has come into being since then.
Because of the fear of being infected with AIDS and fear of death, healthy people consequently
reached a social consensus for people with HIV/AIDS as shame, untouchables or witch (Herek
1106-1107). AIDS is stigmatized not only for the nature of AIDS, but also owing to social responses
to the disease. AIDS-related stigma is constructed by the society. In Dallas Buyers Club, the
protagonist Ron switches from a healthy, strong man to AIDS patient with poor health, he has
confronted the process of being stigmatized as AIDS patient while he is struggling for life. This part
will explore how stigmatization is performed by analyzing its process of labeling, stereotype,
separation, and discrimination. To be clear, only people with AIDS will be discussed because the
film mainly talks about diagnosed AIDS patient with physical symptoms of AIDS, rather than
people with HIV.
3.1 Labeling
Labeling requires categorization. People are firstly divided into groups according to their
differences, such as skin color or sexual orientation. Then different groups are labeled, while their
labels are usually oversimplified and different related to time and space variations (Link and Phelan
2001). People with AIDS are spontaneously categorized into the group of AIDS patients when they
are diagnosed, while others are healthy and normal. AIDS patients who are in the early phase or
asymptomatic period of AIDS looked indistinguishable from others, and they are still one of those
healthy people, for example, Ron works normally and enjoys his life as his healthy friend without
realization of being infected with AIDS for a long time. Though medical researchers have found out
transmissions of AIDS. Daily contacts with AIDS patients remain to be regarded as possible way of
being infected. However, once people are declared to be AIDS patients, they are distinguished and
labeled, being oversimplified as infected, contagious, and dying, while others are healthy. In scene
13, Ron “freezes” and “smiles incredulous” for being told he has infected with AIDS (Borten and
Wallack 9-11). His incredibility, denial, and fury vividly reflect the repulsion and discrimination of
AIDS at that time. After decades of extensive public education about AIDS, one could hope that
AIDS-related discrimination are now relics of the past, but in 1980s, the time Ron’s story has
happened, unfortunately, the situation is still unfriendly to AIDS patients.
3.2 Stereotype
Stereotypes associated with labeled differences is the second part of stigmatization. Stereotype
is highlighted in stigmatization, as Crocker et al. defined that stigma is an attribute or a characteristic
that conveys a social identity that is devalued in a particular context (519-521). In other words, with
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the label linking people to a set of negative and undesirable characteristics, stereotypes thus occur
and is included in the process of stigmatization. One of the major sources of AIDS-related stigma is
the association of AIDS in the United States with already stigmatized gay men group (Herek and
Glunt 886). Four major routes of transmitting HIV at that time were homosexual behavior,
intravenous drug use, blood transfusions, health care workers’ contact with infected blood products
(Crandall 169). However, if people with AIDS belong to the latter two types, they could be regarded
as innocent victim for they are threaten by other patients rather than their own risky behaviors. And
AIDS patients who have homosexual behavior and intravenous drug use are villains, they not only
suffer from their unproper behaviors, but also threat the public and bring health crisis (Hart 35).
Thus, AIDS-related stigma usually focuses on the former two, homosexual behavior and
intravenous drug use. Among those two, it was assumed by the general public that gay men, as the
most prominent patients of the disease, were the only people who could contract it. In fact, health
care professionals originally labeled AIDS as the “gay related immune deficiency,” or GRID for
short (Herek and Capitanio 1126).
Heterosexual behavior is invisible in AIDS to some extent. Though unprotected heterosexual
behavior is risky as well, that is how Ron got infected several years ago, when he was “younger and
heavier” in scene 18 (Borten and Wallack 13). AIDS is closely connected with homosexual,
especially homosexual behavior. Epidemic seems to be the punishment to certain group from God,
just like syphilis is regarded as the moral judgement from heaven (Sontag 42), AIDS is the punish
for male sex, that is why AIDS patients are mostly gay men. In scene 2, when Ron got the news that
Rock Hudson has got AIDS, he immediately relates Hudson with “cock sucker” (Borten and
Wallack 1) in a gloat tone. And when Ron is diagnosed with AIDS in hospital in scene 13, he again
thinks about “Rock cock sucking Hudson bullshit” (ibid. 9). As a white straight man full of
masculinity, Ron has a strong disgust with homosexual, which is expressed by his words describing
gay men, like cock sucker, faggot, pussy, and ironical Nancy boy, Tinkerbell for Rayon, a crossdresser, and AIDS patient. When Ron’s friends, who are also cowboys, straight and masculine, get
to know the state of Ron’s illness, they ironically call Ron “sweetheart” “cupcake” as they call girls
and refers Ron’s blood as “faggot blood” in scene 22 (ibid. 17). Once those cowboys hear AIDS,
they connect AIDS with homosexual, and then link homosexual with sissy men. The logic of them
heterosexual libertine is finally applied to Ron himself. It is after being diagnosed with AIDS, the
so-called homosexual plague, has Ron personally experienced how the stereotype bothers.
3.3 Separation
A separation of “us” from “them” occurs after the formation of social labels and negative
attributes; “they” are threats to “us” for their immorality, laziness, etc. (Morone 994-996). AIDS
populations have been distinguished from the general population as risky and guilty groups, and
contaminated blood, relative to groups not at risk, innocent victims, pure blood (Gamson, 359-360).
That is to say, linking labels to undesirable attributes makes separation possible, because “they” are
different. Ron used to have a circle of friend who are very like him and they drink liquors, snort
cocaine, gamble, and flirt with girls together. As soon as they know Ron is diagnosed with AIDS,
they kick Ron out of their brotherhood. In scene 22, Ron bursts through the bar’s door and shouts
to the familiar bartender without response, and he pretends to be as usual, while his friends sitting
around a round table as a solid group he cannot get into. They soon cause conflicts because Ron’s
friends call him in the way they used to taunt homosexual as mentioned above, but it is his friends
interrupt the coming fight for they seem to be afraid of Ron, “they are all scared of being touched”
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(Borten and Wallack 17). Since metaphors of AIDS are always harmful, such as “the wrath of God,”
“a plague brought to us by a minority of aberrant individuals,” and “poetic justice” (Pryor and
Reeder 279), the separation of healthy people with AIDS patient like what Ron’s friends has done
connotate not only the maintenance of social order and justice, but also the desire of preventing
epidemic disease and breaking up with potential immoral behaviors.
3.4 Discrimination
Discrimination is thus the simultaneous result of above steps in stigmatization. When people
are labeled, linked to undesirable characteristics, and set apart as “them”, a rationale for devaluing,
and rejecting them is thus constructed (Link and Phelan 371). Discrimination could be divided into
individual discrimination, institutional and structural discrimination. As Ron is excluded from his
white straight cowboy group, he is discriminated by individuals as Fiske suggests that their negative
attitudes maybe the source of their actions of discrimination (359). Due to disgust and afraid of
AIDS, individuals discriminate against AIDS patient. It could be seen later in the scene of bar, when
Ron leaves the bar, everyone around takes a step back to keep a safe instance from him; one Ron’s
friend ask for towel and soap for it is possible for Ron to spit on his face when they are talking faceto-face. In scene 35, Ron also finds that he is evicted by the house owner when he comes back to
his trailer. His trailer is locked with an eviction notice even though all his belongings are still indoor
(Borten and Wallack 26-27).
And next comes to institutional discrimination, which refers to discriminatory behaviors
embedded in social institutions and is carried out by dominant groups (Pincus 189-190). Members
from dominant groups have consistently expressed negative attitudes toward AIDS patients will
support punitive measures including quarantine and tattooing of infected individuals (Herek 1107).
Ron loses his job as an electrician because of his colleagues standing together in a defensive stance
which stops him from getting into their working area. Though not performed in the film, before Ron
gets out, “the Foreman emerges through the crowd. Without a word, the guy just slowly shakes his
head” in scene 27(Borten and Wallack 21). Ron has encountered AIDS discrimination and it is an
unwritten rule in the workplace. The intent of institutional discrimination is to treat unequally and
cause harm. Therefore, people with AIDS have to joint together as AIDS union to fight both the
disease and the discrimination.
The structural discrimination, however, is different from institutional discrimination because
its intent is usually neutral (Pincus 190-191). Since stigma has affected the structure around one
person, he or she will be exposed to discriminatory circumstance (Link and Phelan 373). AIDS
patients are eager for specific medicine on account of high contagion and mortality rate of AIDS,
while less capital is allocated to drug research because this disease is stigmatized as a punishment
from God. Given the limited needs and huge costs in the process of drug development, it seems to
be unnecessary and unworthy to develop drugs quickly for the minority AIDS patients. AIDS
patients gather as a union and parade for useful drugs and later Ron engage in law suits for using
unapproved drugs to save life. Even if Food and Drug Administration and court act in a neutral
manner towards each American citizens no matter they are healthy or infected with AIDS, needs of
AIDS patients would still be less likely to be take into consideration. The law of drug import and
approval will not be changed simply for them.
To conclude, being infected with AIDS makes Ron experiences the stigmatization of AIDS.
He has been labeled and stereotyped as a dying patient, an infection source, excluded from his
previous groups and discriminated from life to work. Struggling for life, he thus gets closer with
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people with AIDS who are mostly homosexual, changing his life from rodeo, sexy girls and bars to
AIDS union and buyers club. Therefore, he gradually overcomes his sexual prejudice towards
homosexual in the process of getting along with Rayon and other club members.
4 Overcoming sexual prejudice
The reason for Ron to overcome his deep-rooted masculinity and sexual prejudice is that Ron
has realized or at least experienced the power relation behind stigmatization. It takes power to
stigmatize; stigma will only occur in the circumstance of social, economic, and political powers
(Link and Phelan 2001 375). Wealthy heterosexual white men dominate those positions of power in
American (Benshoff, Grinffin 2009, 33), AIDS is oversimplified as gay disease partly because for
the dominant group ignore the possibility for heterosexual to be infected while gay is emphasized.
Hegemony is a form of cultural control and power by a dominant group in society, the traditional,
binary view of gender that heterosexual men hold perpetuates patriarchal hegemony in society
(Connell and Messerschmidt). The hegemonic power, therefore, ensures the stigma of AIDS is
broadly spread and accepted within the culture. In Dallas Buyers Club, Ron seems to be the only
heterosexual patient. The AIDS union overlaps with gay union, and, gay bars are good place to
selling AIDS drugs. In the process of selling medicine, Ron is accosted by different men for
everyone else thinks he is gay, indicating that gay and AIDS are naturally and closely related. And
Ron is passively considered as a member of the gay group and experiences the loss of power as a
minority.
Ron used to be a representative of patriarchal society and masculinity. Such as rodeo ring,
cowboy bars, those homosocial spaces are accustomed haunts of Ron, which work not only to instill
a sense of masculinity, but also confirm standard men with traits of American patriarchal culture
(Benshoff, Grinffin 358). He also cares what other men will think about him. The anger of the
possibility of being regarded as gay by physicians leads him to speak and laugh exaggeratedly in
the hospital; he hides his fear of death so he could only cry in his car in wilderness. It is a shame,
an ultimate contempt for men to be afraid, unmanly, sissy, untough, and uncool (Kimmel 230), this
recognition controls him and leads him to homophobia. He uses taboo words to Hudson and other
gay men who accost him, his typical sexual prejudice towards homosexual by regarding them as
pussy and abnormal could be clearly seen from that. But his attitudes changes unconsciously since
he finds that gay men with AIDS are also desperate and eager to live like him does. They are not so
that different. In scene 107, a conservative gay couple from his club provide Ron a house as the
office of buyers club for free to help (Borten and Wallack 71-72). In scene 111A, Rayon sells his
life insurance to raise money for Ron’s further medicine career (ibid. 75). Being touched and
sentimental by others’ generousness and the coming death, Ron has put down his sexual prejudice
totally. Though he has already accepted Rayon as his friend and work together, suggests Rayon to
live healthier, the decisive change of Ron happens after Rayon has passed away—it is the moment
Ron feels sorrowful for Rayon’s death and furious about the misuse of unproper medicines. Soon
afterwards, Ron sells his car to provide other AIDS patients useful and less poisoning drugs, as a
contrast, he used to reject one patient without enough money. Ron not only accepts them, and finally
being one of them to give support to others.
In addition, two typical changes signify ideological transformation of Ron. Firstly, Ron and
Rayon come across T.J., one of Ron’s old friends, in the supermarket. T.J. sees Rayon and calls him
as faggot, then he refuses to shake hands while Rayon sticks his hand first. His prejudice towards
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Rayon is similar with Ron’s previous emotion to Rayon and to other homosexual, that is being afraid
of touched by them as if homosexual is infected as well. T.J. remains the same, however, Ron has
taken Rayon as his friend instead of the abnormal, he forces T.J. violently to shake hands with Rayon
(ibid. 47-48). To some extent, it signals that Ron has been different with not only T.J., but also the
T.J.-like, masculine, old Ron. Secondly, Ron has gradually given up his taboo words describing gay
men. Psychological condition is the most influential factor in using taboo words (Wene, Ena 74). At
the beginning of the film, Ron uses insulting and negative words to refer to homosexual to a great
degree, while at the end, he uses neutral pronouns such as “they” and “people” (Borten and Wallack
84). Jay proposed that one, especially the sexually anxious person, utilizes offensive words to
express aggression, as well as avoidance hesitation and anxiety. That is, the disappearance of
aggressive words connotates the dispelling of anxiety, Ron is no longer anxious of being regarded
as unmanly, untough like gay.
To sum up, in the process of experiencing the stigmatization, Ron has seen how gay men are
double stigmatized and suffered; in the process of fighting for a living, Ron finds out that gay men
are struggling as well and thus getting along with them, they are friendly and generous. Though
havig different sexual orientation, they are still human being. Due to AIDS, Ron is forced to join
the opposite group and his personal experiences bring him empathy with homosexual. On the one
hand, Ron is misrecognized as homosexual and realizes how his previous prejudice towards them
are unreasonable; on the other hand, Ron is helped by those people he used to look down up. On the
way of fighting against AIDS, Ron has gradually overcome his sexual prejudice towards
homosexual.
5 Conclusion
Even if the heterosexual white protagonist seems to be a member of minority, he owns position
among gay AIDS patient because he used to be one of the dominant group. He has a more serious
disease than others at the beginning, while he lives longer and has the strength to go back the rodeo
ring at the end. The protagonist has been the Redeemer when others are in need. It could be
concluded that the stigmatization of AIDS tightly related to gay is not challenged in this film, the
story of an innocent victim accidentally getting into homosexual AIDS supportive groups may even
reinforce the construction of AIDS as a gay plague.
However, the stigmatization of AIDS depicted in Dallas Buyers Club represents the power
relation in American society and indicates the reality that AIDS and gay men are inseparable at
1980s. From the perspective of the protagonist, the audience will see how homosexual is double
stigmatized. Cultural studies scholar Stuart Hall considered that representation not merely transmits
meanings which are already existed, but actively structures and shapes what things mean (64).
Though the film hasn’t explored the hidden reason of stigmatization of AIDS or provides the
eventual elimination of the stigmatization as an end, it represents the process that how AIDS patients
are labeled, stereotyped, separated, and discriminated. It gives the audience a glance towards how
AIDS are stigmatized and connected with homosexual, and a thinking guidance towards sexual
prejudice in stigmatization of AIDS. Considering the social, economic, cultural, and political power
relations at that time when the story happened, it will be understandable that stigma of AIDS is
linked with the stigma of homosexuality. Screened in 2013, Dallas Buyers Club may provoke a new
understanding and explanation towards AIDS, homosexuality, and related stigmas in modern, more
open circumstance. The audience’s empathy and attention towards AIDS patient and homosexual
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generated in the film may serve as a method of destigmatization.
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