This article examines the social representations of HIV/AIDS held by 11 students (six women and five men) attending the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue who participated in two gender-specific discussion groups. The study had two objectives: 1) To describe the social representations of HIV/AIDS held by the students, and 2) To describe the impact of those representations on how the students understand and react toward HIV/AIDS. The participants’ discourse reveals a positive attitude and openness toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV/AIDS), who are perceived as resilient. This capacity for resilience confirms the hypothesis that, rather than dying from the illness as was the case 30 years ago, PLHIV/AIDS can now expect to enjoy fairly stable health. It further demonstrates the dynamic nature of the social representations of HIV/AIDS over time. Our results also show marked differences in prevention mechanisms between genders, with men citing condom use as the most important element and women emphasizing confidence in their sexual partners. The study concludes that social representations of HIV/AIDS constitute an integral part of everyday reality, with these representations being culturally constructed and shared. The study demonstrates the need to develop more robust prevention campaigns for youth, with messages that are differentiated by gender and better able to factor in the cultural dimension of this phenomenon.