In the late 1980s and early 1990s, AIDS-- Auto-Immune Deficiency Syndrome-- was still considered by most of the world to be a problem that was centralized in the homosexual community in the United States. The problem with HIV/AIDS is that it is a silent killer, sometimes lying dormant in the body for years before being recognized by doctors. Indeed, until the disease was recognized, many doctors could not fathom why so many of their homosexual patients were dying from immunological suppression and related complications. In 1992, Mary Fischer went before the Republican National Committee to plead for their attention on the problem of HIV/AIDS infection in the United States. Fischer was a young, beautiful blonde woman, hardly the image of the HIV-positive individual that many people had at the time; because the disease was so misunderstood for so long, her presence at the podium and her appearance must have shocked those present. Fischer argued for greater awareness of the issues surrounding those who are HIV-positive, and beseeched those present to take the danger of HIV infection seriously. Her appeal was one carefully-tuned and finely balanced for her audience; she knew that she did not fit the image of the typical HIV-positive person, and she did her best to ensure that the audience listened to her arguments in favor of greater support and awareness of the disease and its effects on the American community as a whole.
Fischer gave her speech regarding HIV/AIDS to the Republican National Convention. This may seem a strange forum for the speech-- Republicans are generally considered to be more fiscally and socially conservative than Democrats, and more likely to be religious; thus, a speech regarding a disease usually associated with homosexual male activity must have been somewhat scandalous for the audience members at first. However, Fischer made a significant appeal to the humanity of each audience member, demonstrating her empathy with them and their potential to know and suffer with the carriers of the disease.
Until this speech was given, Fischer was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party (Shaw). Her decision to stand up and reveal her status as HIV-positive in front of an audience that was less-than-sympathetic to the disease was one that was made because of her frustration; she felt that the Republican Party was doing little to address the growing AIDS epidemic in the country, even though it was affecting more and more Americans (Shaw). Her background as a Republican supporter and activist, in addition to her looks led her to appear sympathetic in the eyes of the Republicans gathered at the convention.
Shaw does not ask the audience for their approval regarding her behavior, nor does she ask for their judgment of those who are HIV-positive. She says, “Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection” (Fischer). This is a cunning and effective tactic to use; though Fischer herself does not fit the image of the AIDS patient, she aligns herself with those that she sees the Republican Party debase for their status as HIV-positive (Fischer). Fischer leaves no room for disagreement in her address: she advocates for compassion and solid policies regarding HIV infection, and anyone arguing against these things would quickly be perceived by the general public as inhumane (Fischer).
Fischer’s primary goal in her address seems to be to elicit empathy from her audience. She uses strong language throughout the address, but repeatedly begs the audience to consider their family when considering the risk of HIV/AIDS. In regards to the first President Bush and First Lady, she says, “In the place of judgment, they have shown affection. In difficult moments, they have raised our spirits” (Fischer). Her message is clear: if the President and his wife-- both staunch conservatives-- can show compassion to those infected by HIV/AIDS, everyone from the Republican Party is capable of showing compassion towards those who are infected with the disease. Mary Fischer is empathetic to the Republican Party, sympathetic to the question that they face in their minds: if this is a disease that affects mostly homosexual males, and they disagree with the homosexual male lifestyle, how can they ethically support those infected? Fischer acknowledges this dichotomy but dismisses it outright, suggesting instead that Christian values implore everyone to have empathy and sympathy as default values when considering their fellow human beings, regardless of how those people choose to live their lives.
The second emotion that Fischer attempts to elicit from her audience is the feeling of solidarity. She says:
We cannot love justice and ignore prejudice, love our children and fear to teach them. Whatever our role as parent or policymaker, we must act as eloquently as we speak -- else we have no integrity. My call to the nation is a plea for awareness. If you believe you are safe, you are in danger. Because I was not hemophiliac, I was not at risk. Because I was not gay, I was not at risk. Because I did not inject drugs, I was not at risk. (Fischer).
Here, Fischer is underscoring the fact that she never considered HIV/AIDS to be a problem because she was not at risk for it; however, she was at risk and did not know it. Her audience is meant to feel fear and solidarity with the woman standing in front of them: she was a victim of circumstance, and her circumstance could be the same circumstance that they or a loved one face in the future (Fischer). While her argument is logical, it does not rely upon data or analysis to become logical; instead, she relies on an argument that weaves empathy with logic, ensnaring listeners into the logical conclusion that she wishes for them to reach. There is simply no other conclusion to reach at the end of Fischer’s speech; empathy and awareness of the potential threat of HIV/AIDS hangs heavy over the head of all those who are listening to the speech.
The problem, as Fischer sees it, is that the level of awareness about the problem of HIV-infection and AIDS was very low at the time when the speech was given. She was addressing members of the community who viewed HIV and AIDS as a problem that was almost exclusively reserved for the gay community and intravenous drug users, and considered themselves removed almost completely from the problem. By outing herself as being HIV-positive, she created an environment that allowed the listeners to sympathize with her-- after all, she was a victim, and became infected when her second husband lied to her (or was unaware) about his status as infected (Shaw). She is urging extreme caution and awareness in the community because she understands implicitly that there is nowhere that is free of the HIV virus, and she knows that without further awareness and careful control, the infection will continue to spread.
Fischer’s speech has become almost prophetic in its analysis of the HIV/AIDS issue. Today, it is widely recognized that anyone can become infected with HIV, and that blood-borne diseases do not require homosexual activity to spread from person to person-- they merely require fluid exchange (Shaw). When Fischer gave her speech, pleading with the members of the Republican Party to remain compassionate in the face of HIV/AIDS, she saw the coming storm; unfortunately, the virus has continued to spread despite her best efforts. However, her call for compassionate care and policy for those infected by the virus was not forgotten, and her interactions with President Bush and his wife changed the way that the government viewed HIV-infected persons in the future (Shaw). Mary Fischer stood before a potentially-hostile crowd and bared her soul to them, begging them to use empathy and logic when dealing with those who are infected with HIV, and she received a positive reaction because of the strength of her rhetoric and the confidence of her speech.
Works cited
Fischer, Mary. "American Rhetoric: Mary Fisher -- 1992 Republican National Convention Address ("A Whisper of Aids")." American Rhetoric, 2013. Web. 31 Oct 2013. <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/maryfisher1992rnc.html>.
Br and Allan M T. "AIDS in historical perspective: four lessons from the history of sexually transmitted diseases.." American Journal of Public Health, 78. 4 (1988): 367--371. Online.
Shaw, Dan. "Defined by Words, Not by a Disease." The New York Times. August 22. 2012. Web. 31 Oct 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/fashion/aids-activist-mary-fisher-is-defined-by-words-not-disease.html?_r=0>.
