‘Boy’ and ‘girl’: The AIDS risk implications of heroin and cocaine symbolism among injection drug users

The terms ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ are commonly used by injection drug users to refer to heroin, which produces a ‘down’ high, and cocaine, which produces an ‘up’ high, respectively. This paper examines the symbolic construction of gender categories and relations among drug injectors as they are revealed through discourse about drugs. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, over the past nine years. Sixty‐two audio taped interviews were conducted with 42 Blacks and 20 Whites. The relationship between the creation of meaningful gender categories and sexual behavior is analyzed with respect to risks for the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The correspondence between normative gender categories and sexual experience is highly variable. Although gender terms used to refer to heroin and cocaine generally reflect male dominance and female subordination, women sometimes assert control in sexual decision making. In addition to addressing patriarchally gendered assumptions inherent in many AIDS risk‐reduction interventions, prevention efforts should be adapted to the highly variable sexual experiences of individuals.