TOW #27: "Roughly 1 Person Every 10 Minutes Is Diagnosed with HIV in the U.S., so Why Aren't We Taking AIDS More Seriously?" by Karley Sciortino (my, what a long title)

Karley Sciortino is a writer for Vogue Magazine and also an independent blogger.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic came to the forefront of global consciousness in the 1980's, but over the years, people have stopped taking the diseases, and the risk of contracting them, seriously enough. Blogger Karley Sciortino comments on this dangerous phenomenon in her piece for Vogue, "Roughly 1 Person Every 10 Minutes Is Diagnosed with HIV in the U.S., so Why Aren't We Taking AIDS More Seriously?" Using personal anecdotes and statistics, Sciortino argues that HIV/AIDS is just as big a problem as it used to be and that Millennials often make unsafe health decisions.
Sciortino opens her article with a harrowing anecdote to show the irresponsibility of today's young adults. She talks about having unprotected sex with a stranger one drunken evening, and describes how she awoke the next morning, highly aware of the potentially devastating consequences: "I spent the next three months, which is the length of time it takes for HIV to show up in a test, on a double dose of my anxiety meds". She continues by writing "... I know I'm not the only one of my friends to have "messed up" and by mentioning a gay friend of hers who contracted AIDS and has gone almost completely blind. Her stories, though limited to herself and her social group, are emotional, and some readers may not only be able to understand the subjects' feelings, but to identify with them. They add a personal touch to the piece; it also features more concrete evidence, but things like that do not touch peoples' hearts. 
The anecdotes may get to the heart of readers, but to make a solid, effective argument about this topic, Sciortino must also get to their minds. One of the most prominent ways she does this is by citing numerous statistics. She even does this in the title of the article: "Roughly 1 Person Every 10 Minutes Is Diagnosed with HIV in the U.S.". In the third paragraph, she writes, "... there are about 1.1 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS... Gay and bisexual men continue to bear the greatest burden of HIV, accounting for an estimated 63 percent of new infections". These examples, as well as others not provided here, demonstrate how widespread HIV/AIDS is in the United States and how minorities are disproportionately affected with it. Faced with these statistics, it would be difficult for readers to claim that HIV/AIDS is not a major issue, and coupled with Sciortino's anecdotes, readers would think Millennials irresponsible for not addressing or considering it when it comes to the way they conduct their personal lives.

Article link: http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/breathless-aids-hiv-in-the-new-millennium-slutever-karley-sciortino/#1