Unraveling the AIDS Quilt : a Study in Oppression

Abstract

An estimated 40,000 Americans contract HIV every year, half of them under the age of 25 (Centers for Disease Control, 2001). "The Quilt... a memorial, a tool for education and a work of art, the Quilt is a unique creation, an uncommon and uplifting response to the tragic loss of human life (The Names Project Foundation, 2011)." This study is grounded in frameworks of multicultural feminism, critical theory, and cognitive dissonance theory, all of which are used to reveal influences of activism and influence inherent with the artifact.